
Glass _I 

Book J!) 4r 



S J 



/ 
A LEGACY, 

TO THE FRIENDS OF 

FREE DISCUSSION: 

BEING A REVIEW OF THE 

PRINCIPAL HISTORICAL FACTS AND PERSONAGES 

OF THE BOOKS KNOWN AS 

THE OLD AND NEW TESTAMENT; 

WITH REMARKS ON THE 

MORALITY OF NATURE, 



1)3 



£11*1 



BY BENJAMIN" OFFEN, 

FORMERLY LECTURER TO THE SOCIETY OF MORAL PHILANTHROPISTS, 
AT TAMMANY HALL, NEW YORK. 



Free discussion, is like the air we breathe : 
If we have it not^ we die. 11 



BOSTON: 

POINTED AND PUBLISHED AT THE BOSTON INVESTIGATOR OFFICER 

BY J. P. MENDUM, 

1851, 



©4 



Entered according to an Act of Congress, in the year 1846, by 

JOSIAH P. MENDUM. 

la the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the District of Massachusetts. 



LC Control Number 




tmp96 029019 



PREFACE 



In the following pages the author has freely discussed the claims of 
the books called the Old and New Testaments, to be considered Divine 
revelations. He had a right so to do; and in presenting the work to the 
public he gives the result of his exercise of such right. 

The right of free discussion has been questioned. It would be well for 
humanity if this were all ; but unhappily, the pages of history are re- 
plete with deeds of persecution and cruelty, committed by men, in the 
possession of power, on their less fortunate fellow-men, who have pre- 
sumed to exercise the right of free investigation. Cupidity has drawn a 
line of demarcation; it has established boundaries for thought; and 
miserable has been the fate of the unhappy wretch who, rejoicing hi the 
dignity of his nature, and anxious to discover the abode of Truth, has 
dared to pass the Rubicon. 

What is Free Discussion % We answer, it is the exercise of the rea- 
soning faculties. Without Free Discussion man cannot exist. His phys- 
ical existence might indeed remain ; but he could no longer be deemed 
a man ; and would have to take a lower rank in the scale of creation. 

Without investigation it is impossible to arrive at Truth ; hence the 
utility of ^Free Discussion. This is never denied when science is the 
subject ; and we have yet to learn why it should be restrained in any 
case; and also how and when any set of men became possessed of the 
right to restrain the exercise of the reasoning faculties of their fellow- 
men. 

When men have not been impelled by cupidity to shackle the minds 
of their fellow beings, a spirit of uncharitableness has induced them to 
pursue the same line of conduct. Whoever has maintained an opinion 
contrary to theirs, has been considered as being actuated, not by mistak- 
en, but, by dishonest motives ; and has therefore been deemed a fit sub- 
ject for punishment. As this work will probably be read by many pro- 
fessing Christians we will here give an extract from Dr. Blair's sermon 
on Candor, which will, probably, make a greater impression than any 
thing we could offer on that subject. 



IV PREFACE. 

" It is one of the misfortunes of our present situation, that some of the 
cood dispositions of human nature are apt to betray us into frailties and 
vices. Thus it often happens, that the laudable attachment which we 
contract to the country, or the church, to which we belong, or to some 
political denomination under which we class ourselves, both confines our 
affections within too narrow a sphere, and gives rise to violent prejudices 
against such as come under an opposite description. Not contented with 
being in the right ourselves, we must find all others in the wrong. We 
claim an exclusive possession of goodness and wisdom : and from ap- 
proving warmly of those who join us, we proceed to condemn, with 
much acrimony, not only the principles, but the characters, of those from 
whom we differ. Hence, persons of well disposed minds are too often, 
through the strength of partial good affection, involved in the crime of 
uncharitable judgment. They rashly extend to every individual the 
severe opinion which they have unwarrantably conceived of a whole 
body. This man is of a party whose principles we reckon slavish ; and 
therefore his whole sentiments are corrupted. That man belongs to a 
religious sect which we are accustomed to deem bigoted ; and therefore 
he is incapable of any generous or liberal thought. Another is connect- 
ed with a sect which we have been taught to account relaxed ; and there- 
fore he can have no sanctity. — Are these the judgments of candor and 
charity 1 Is true piety or virtue so very limited in its nature, as to be 
confined to such alone as see every thing with our eyes, and follow ex- 
actly the train of our ideas'? " 

The author disclaims any intention of wounding the feelings of those 
who hold opinions different to his own. For the religious hypocrite he 
has no bowels of compassion : but the sincere believer in Divine revela- 
tion, whose conduct is regulated by the universally acknowledged rules 
of morality, is to him an object of sincere respect and esteem. 

Many things connected with what is called Divine revelation, have 
been very freely commented on by the author : and sometimes in a style 
which the Christian world will probably be disposed to condemn ; but it 
should be remembered that what appears sacred to one, excites the ridi- 
cule of others. The Pagan venerates his manufactured god j the Christ- 
ian views it with contempt and indignation. 

The object of the author has been the promotion of Truth and Benevo- 
lence. Should he fail to produce the effects he has contemplated, he 
will yet be able to console himself with the reflection, that he has been 
actuated by good intentions. The time has been when the assertion was 
frequently made that "hell was paved with good intentions," had the 
work appeared at that time, the author would, doubtless, have been des- 
tined, so far as human agency could effect it, to become one of the paving 
stones of that remarkable edifice : but a brighter day has dawned upon 



PREFACE. ^ 

the world ; Reason is asserting her right to empire ; and the cheering 
spirit of benevolence is animating the nations of the earth. 

The shades of life's evening admonish the author that his sojourn in 
the world will very shortly be brought to a close. He is anxious, there- 
fore, before his departure, to cast in his mite for the eradication of human 
suffering, and the promotion of human felicity ; and then, in wrapping 
himself in the mantle of universal benevolence, to retire from the transi- 
tory scene, in charity with all men. 



GENERAL INTRODUCTION. 



The main object of this book is to show that Jehovah, the God of the 
Jews, is not the Sovereign Ruler of the Universe, but a fictitious being, 
having no real existence whatever. If the above position be correct, it 
follows, that the Bible, including the Old and New Testaments, is not a 
Divine Revelation. But that the reader may see, more clearly, upon 
what uncertain ground divine revelation rests, the plan pursued in the 
following chapters will be a review of the facts and personages as recorded 
in the Old and New Testaments. But the limits of this work will only 
admit of a mere scantling of what might be written on the subject. 

In most Christian countries (America excepted,) this work would be 
answered by either fine or imprisonment, or probably both. But fortu- 
nately for the cause of truth and free discussion, theological power here 
is so happily balanced, that persecution for religious opinions is imprac- 
ticable. The period therefore has arrived, in this country in particular, 
when reason is free from the former obstacles that every where crossed 
its path. Now, then, is the time for us to examine the religion of our 
forefathers, and explore the regions of human credulity* A mixture of 
pain and pleasure will be the result : —pain, in considering what suffer- 
ing has befallen the human family, when the laudable indulgence of im- 
agining and reasoning was considered rebellion against God ; and pleas- 
ure, to us who, having escaped those dreadful evils which in former ages 
spread terror throughout the world, can lessen the evils that surround us, 
and augment to an almost unlimited degree our happiness. 

To those who may have the moral courage to read the following pages, 
I would say, I have neither a desire to shock their feelings, nor any wish 
to change their sentiments in order to gratify my vanity j for had Chris* 
tianity been productive of " peace on earth and good will towards men." 
I should have been the last to have opposed it, But on the contrary, the 
page of religious history is blotted with human gore. The intolerant 
spirit that pervades the Old and New Testaments, has so innoculated its 
followers of every sect, that while they profess to love each other for 
Christ's sake, one sect (the strongest) has put to death a weaker sect for 



GENERAL INTRODUCTION. 



Vll 



God's sake. Nothing short of convincing men that the Bible is not a 
divine revelation, can or will guarantee posterity against a recurrence of 
those scenes of horror, at the very thought of which, the heart sickens. 

From the pulpit, and in religious works, nothing is more common than 
to exclaim with horror at the unblushing Infidel, Unblushing Infidel ! 
What cause have Infidels to blush % The blush, if any, ought to be on 
the face of the Christians of every sect. They have never failed to per- 
secute when in power ; they have been guilty of cruelties, at which the 
savage cannibal would weep, and this will ever be the case so long as 
the Bible is considered as coming from God; because, till all conse- 
quence is taken away from faith, and transferred to moral rectitude, per- 
secution is the effect of believing that faith is the sure passport to glory, 
while unbelief is the broad road to perdition. Men cease to be Christians 
when they lose this spirit of intolerance, and become Infidels. 

Sects are not alike intolerant; but all are in some degree. The Cal- 
vinists will not permit the Unitarians to preach in their churches. The 
Unitarians, or'Universalists, will not permit an Infidel lecturer to speak 
in their churches, — no, not even on moral subjects. Christians, then, 
will always be more or less of a persecuting disposition, and nothing but 
giving up the Bible, as a Divine revelation, will destroy that spirit. To 
show how a profession of Christianity, unfits men to do justice to those 
who differ from them in religion, I will refer to the treatment of Thomas 
Paine, author of " Common Sense.' 7 His services in the glorious struggle 
that "tried men's souls" have been shamefully forgotten. Yes! the 
friend of the immortal Washington, who shared in the toils and dangers 
with the father of this great republic, — how have Americans generally 
treated his name and efforts to erect one of the most noble monuments 
of human wisdom — the independent republic of North America? For all 
his faithful devotedness to the independence of America, how is his 
name and memory spoken of at the present time % From the pulpit, 
every kind of falsehood and detraction is poured forth concerning him. 
If he had been a member of a church, the same fanatical priesthood 
would have lauded him to the skies. Such is the nature of religious 
bigotry, that the friendship of the ever to be venerated Washington — even 
that, cannot shield his name from pulpit calumny. " Bigotry, she has no 
head, and cannot think; she has no heart, and cannot feel/' 

But the name and services of Thomas Paine, are not, and never will 
be, forgotten. Thanks to the Liberals throughout the Union, his birth- 
day is yearly celebrated in most of the cities and towns in the different 
States. A handsome and durable monument has been erected to his 
memory at New Rochelle, New York State. The thanks of the Liberals 
are due to Mr. G. Vale, Editor of the Beacon, published in New York, 
for his untiring perseverance in urging on the completion of a monument 
that will, in time, command the respect of posterity. Why are the name 



Vlll 



GENERAL INTRODUCTION, 



and services of Thomas Paine so cautiously omitted by our orators and 
statesmen, when speaking of the patriotism of a Washington, Jefferson, 
Adams, Hancock, and others % It would offend the church and priest- 
hood, as well as the whole of the Christian community ; because — 
u He that believeth not shall be damned." This is the brightest gem in the 
Christian's crown of glory. If he nurse this intolerant spirit against Infi- 
dels, the Christian considers his " calling and election sure." 

Sincere believers in Divine revelation are not aware what monsters 
the Bible makes of them ; but for which they would be humane, com- 
pared to what they are under its influence. I am surprised that they are 
{the majority of them) so just, humane, and charitable, when I take into 
consideration the doctrines contained (or believed to be) in what is called 
the Word of God. In addition to their own evil habits and disregard for vir- 
tue in the common concerns of life, they have a Devil to tempt them by a 
thousand ways in which they are ignorant. Again, they have a Saviour 
who shed his blood to save them from the just punishment of their deserts ; 
so that with their own evil deeds, and being urged on by the Devil, they 
become monsters in crime. They then go, as the phrase is, to Christ, 
be sorry, or profess to be, for what they have done, and are pardoned, 
and in the sight of Heaven are considered superior to the unconverted 
whom they have injured. Can you, my readers, wonder at the crimes of 
God's people 1 According to this doctrine, a man may steal a horse and 
cart, by the use of which, another man earned support for his family • the 
thief sells it, and spends the amount, in connexion with wretches like 
himself. He then goes to Jesus, repents, is forgiven ; and, to follow the 
plan throughout — if the man who lost his horse and cart is an unbeliev- 
er, he goes to Hell, while the rogue sits singing and laughing in Glory ! 

This book is sent into society from the best of motives ■ hoping it will 
induce Christians to practise moderation, and somewhat abate that rag- 
ing, fanatical fever, that has been so fatal to human happiness. If you 
take from us the Bible, says the Christian, what will you give in its 
stead ? We answer, man requires nothing but what God, or Nature, has 
given him. All men in common, have reason to consult, by which man 
will learn the duty he owes to himself, and also to his fellow beings. 
The error lies in being taught, that reason, when m full exercise, will 
lead him into error. This has been his misfortune ) and his punishment 
has followed as a consequence. The Bible contains many good moral 
precepts * but these are, by Christians, thought little of, compared with 
its doctrines. Faith is all important. By faith, barbarous Calvin caused 
Servetus to be burnt by a slow fire j and through faith, St. Austin, that 
drunken debauchee, obtained a good report. 

The Bible is at war with man's reasoning powers ; and, like a land 
pirate, has held up false lights, which instead of conducting man to the 
haven of happiness and safety, has caused him to make shipwreck On 



GENERAL INTRODUCTION. ^ 

the rocks and shoals of religious dogmas. Man is lost in no other sense 
than that, the loss of his reason. To recover that, and bring it into full ex- 
ercise, is all the Saviour he needs. His moral path is as clear as light. 
God, or Nature, has made it a law of man's existence that he must love 
happiness, ease, and enjoyment ; and also, that he must hate pain and 
trouble in every stage and form. This law is forced upon him indepen- 
dent of his choice. It is ever present to his senses, till he ceases to ex- 
ist, or to be rational. This is man's stock of moral material furnished by 
God, or Nature. How clear, then, is his duty ! He has but to follow out 
this law, by the aid of his reasoning, judging, and comparing powers. It 
will never lead him wrong. He requires no Bible, no Saviour ; he is 
never lost; he has no incomprehensible doctrines to support or defend. 
Unlike the sectarian, he feels no disposition to persecute others who dif- 
fer from him in matters of faith ; he has no angry God to propel him on 
to fight for his glory ; he can balance up every night his moral account 
of the day ; and if he has followed out the law of his nature, by augment- 
ing his own, and also the happiness of his fellow beings, and lightened 
the load of human ills around him, he in truth is the good man, be his 
faith little or much. That the following work may forward moral im- 
provement, and encourage moderation and universal good will among 
the human family, is the sincere wish of 

THE AUTHOR. 



CONTENTS. 



OLD TESTAMENT 



PAGS. 

PREFACE. — Free Discussion ; the right to use it in examining the 
Scriptures ; its certainty in destroying error and establishing truth — 
Extract from Dr. Blair's sermon on Candor — Motives of the author 
in laying his work before the public, - - - iii 

GENERAL INTRODUCTION. — Object of the book — Intoler- 
ance and persecution of Christian sects — Their abuse of Infidels 
and calumnious treatment of Thomas Paine — His name and servi- 
ces appreciated by Liberals — Pernicious influence of the Bible 
upon morals — Knowledge of the laws of our existence the only sure 
guide to wisdom, happiness, and virtue, - vi 

GOD'S CHOSEN PEOPLE. — Character and situation of the 
Jews — Their treatment by Jehovah — Why were they chosen, and 
did they answer the end of their choice % — Probable reasoning of 
the Jewish God — Account of his visit to Abram and Sarah, and 
their reception and treatment of him — The consequences to the 
Jews of considering themselves the chosen people — The five books 
said to have been written by Moses — Treatment of Hagar and her 
child — Jehovah and the Jews, ----- i 

CHAPTER I. — From the Creation to the Deluge, - 9 
CHAPTER II. — A Review of the Deluge and the confusion of 

Tongues at the Tower of Babel, - - - - 18 
CHAPTER III. — From the Confusion of Tongues to the Birth of 

Moses, -------- 26 

CHAPTER IV. — From the Birth of Moses to the Death of Joshua, 35 

CHAPTER V. — From the Death of Joshua to the Reign of Saul, 52 

CHAPTER VI. — The Reigns of Saul, David, and Solomon, - ' 63 
CHAPTER VII. — The Reign of Jeroboam, and the separation of 

Israel from Judah, ------ 77 

CHAPTER VIII. — On Divine Inspiration. - - - 90 



CONTENTS. 



NEW TESTAMENT. 

INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER. — Jehovah's dealings with the 
Jews — His failure to make them a pattern to the rest of the human 
family — The coming of Christ — The mamier of his introduction — 
his associates, language, and conduct — Miracles — The Jews had 
sufficient reason for rejecting Jesus as the Messiah, - 105 

CHAPTER I. — Jesus, the pretended Saviour of the world, not 
sent from God — Moses wrote the most minute things connected: 
with the system established by himself, but Jesus left no writings 
whatever — Vagueness and want of authenticity of the writings of 
the Evangelists ■ — General ignorance among Christians of what is the 
true Gospel — No proof of the heavenly origin of Jesus — His bap- 
tism by John — His temptation by the Devil — Its absurdity — Abu- 
sive language of Jesus to the Jews — His unfitness fox his mission, 
and failure to prove himself sent from God, - - 114 

CHAPTER II. — Casting out Devils — The case of Mary Magda- 
lene — The doctrine of demoniacal possession, a heathen dogma — 
Miracles of Jesus no proof of his Divine origin — Evidence from the 
New Testament that no miracles ever took place — Inconsistent con- 
duct and abusive language of Jesus — The miracle at his baptism — 
Moses and Elijah talking with Jesus from the clouds — Folly of mir- 
acles and their injurious consequences, - 123 

CHAPTER III. — Peter — Disingenuous mode adopted by Jesus 
to prove his Messiahship — The introduction of his mission to the 
Jews — His obscure doctrines, and disrespectful language — Survey 
of his teaching, and mode of life — Inutility of his object — His be- 
trayal — Judas Iscariot, - - - - - -135 

CHAPTER IV. — The Almighty Power that governs the universe 
not the author of the Christian Religion — Destructive saying of 
Jesus — The power given to Peter ; its disastrous results — Institution 
of the Sacrament — Intolerance and persecution of Sectarianism — 
Folly of religious teaching — Infidelity the only true guide, 14$ 

CHAPTER V. — Orthodox views of Christianity — Remarks on 
the bad effects of believing in the existence of the Devil, and in 
witchcraft, doctrines taught in the Bible — Trial and execution of 
two women for witchcraft in England, in 1664 — Account of the 
witchcraft that prevailed in England and Scotland, in the days of 
Elizabeth — Anecdote of Cromwell's bargain with the Devil, - 15& 



C0NTEN13. 

CHAPTER VI. — Continuation of remarks upon the supposed in- 
fluence of Satanic agency — Dreadful effects of human credulity — 
Sketch of the life and tragical fate of Joan of Arc, the Maid of Or- 
leans — Temptation of Jesus, - - - - - 161 

CHAPTER VII. — God and the Devil — Probable origin of the 
belief in their existence — Mode of reasoning in ancient times by 
the ignorant — Theology — Christian Religion — Account of Witch- 
craft in Sweden, in 1670 — Reflections, - 168 

CHAPTER VIII. — Comprehensive view of the mission of Christ 
to the Jewish nation — Plan of redemption — Willingness of the 
Jews to welcome the long expected Messiah — The violence and 
abuse they received from Jesus — Their condition not improved by 
his coming — Obscurity of his teaching — The Jews put him to 
death because they believed him an impostor — Judas, in betraying 
Jesus, was but the instrument to accomplish the plan of human re- 
demption — Unfortunate condition of the Jews — Reflections upon 
their past and present treatment by Christians, - - 179 

CHAPTER IX. — Object of Christ's coming into the world, un- 
certain and of doubtful utility — His obvious omission to convince 
the Jews that he was the Messiah, and his neglect to order his apos- 
tles to write a history of his life, show the Christian Religion defi- 
cient in the proof of its Divine origin — Jesus, according to the Gos- 
pels, was a moral reformer — Ignorance of his disciples of his Divine 
mission, as manifested by Peter, at the betrayal — The Resurrection 
of Jesus — Sudden departure afterward — Religious quarrels — Dif- 
ficulty of defining Christianity — Reflections on the want of proof 
of Christ's Divine mission, and its insufficiency to reform the 
world — The Jesus of the New Testament an imaginary being, - 190 

CONCLUSION. — Remarks on the Morality of Nature — Perni- 
cious effect of religious faith — Its failure to moralize the world — Its 
intolerance and persecution — Infidel morality founded in reason 
and the laws that govern human beings — Its superiority over faith 
in promoting good works, inducing correct conduct, and insuring hu- 
man happiness and improvement, - - .'■_'.- 20 S 



A LEGACY 
TO THE FRIENDS OF FREE DISCUSSION, 



GOD'S CHOSEN PEOPLE. 

Before reviewing the facts and personages, as recorded in 
the Old and New Testaments, it will he in order to notice 
the Jews, as Jehovah's chosen race. The subject will not 
admit of demonstration ; it must be approached and examin- 
ed in the same manner as the Alkoran of Mahomet. 

In order to get at the truth, so as to arrive at something 
like certainty, and as Infinite Wisdom makes the choice, we 
must inquire — For what end were they chosen? and did 
they answer the end of such choice ? If they were really 
chosen by the Sovereign Ruler of the Universe, they must, 
however strange they acted as a nation, have fulfilled the 
purpose of their choice; because, whatever they did, was 
known to Jehovah before the choice was made. How, then, 
can we reconcile expressions of regret and disappointment 
by Jehovah after he had selected them as his own peculiar 
people — such as, ll I have nourished and brought up children, 
and they have rebelled against me V ' And again — ' •' He hated 
his own inheritance" — and also his stirring up and support- 
ing heathen kings to subjugate them as slaves. Is this not 
the language of disappointment and regret ? In fact, no learn- 
ed divine can get over this striking truth that the Bible fully 
1 



GOD'S CHOSEN PEOPLE. 



holds out iii the plainest manner, that Jehovah was disap- 
pointed in his choice of the Jews as his favorite people. 
Were they, then, chosen to raise up and support the religion 
given to them hy God himself? No, impossible! they con- 
tinually rebelled against Jehovah and worshipped strange 
Gods ; and even Solomon himself built temples for idolatry, 
contrary to express command. Jehovah says of the Jewish 
nation — that he did not choose them because they were bet- 
ter than others, for they were always a stiff-necked people ; 
but because he loved their fathers. Poor, miserable reason- 
ing, indeed ; to choose one of the most contemptible races of 
men, because their ancestors, some hundreds of years before, 
had superior qualities to their degenerate race. 

Again, another reason given why Jehovah continued to 
protect them, is, that the promises before made to Abram. 
Isaac, and Jacob, bound him in honor so to do. Did not 
Infinite Wisdom foresee that the seed of Abram would not 
follow in the faithful footsteps of their great progenitor ? If 
this was not foreseen, then we can discover clearly the rea- 
son why Jehovah complains of their rebellious conduct. It 
will be a vain attempt in ministers of the gospel, to reconcile 
those complaints, if Jehovah had foresight of what the seed 
of Abram would do. If i: God is the same yesterday -, to-day. 
and forever •" how did it happen that he appeared so regard- 
less of the fate of mankind, as to allow some hundreds of 
years to pass away from the time of the confusion of tongues 
at the tower of Babel, till his visit to the tent of Abram, 
during which time, according to Bible history, Jehovah had 
no worshippers on earth? The whole of mankind were left 
to make the best of their deserted situation ; to worship the 
Gods of their imagination ; and they founded mighty em- 
pires, and became powerful on the earth. 

Before the Lord called on Abram and Sarah in their tent, 
something like the following mode of reasoning probably took 
place in the mind of the Jewish God : — 

iC l have made a world and peopled it with inhabitants; 
Adam and Eve rebelled against me ; their descendants fol- 
lowed in the footsteps of their progenitors; I have destroyed 



GOD'S CHOSEN PEOPLE. 3 

them all (eight only excepted,) from whom I expected better 
things. But, alas ! they have also sinned against me ; and 
to such a height of wickedness did they arrive, that they be- 
gan to build a tower to reach my holy habitation. I have 
sent them off in confusion : and now I have no church, no 
worshippers, — not even a song of praise to my name. I pos- 
sess universal empire, without even one single subject to obey 
me. What is to be done ? A thought has struck me: — I 
will call on honest old Abram." 

And here let me remind the reader, that the Bible clearly 
represents the Jewish God as being as changeable in his dis- 
position and mode of acting as mortals. Like man, he is 
sometimes in a state of inaction, towards the fate of his off- 
spring: at other times, he arouses from this torpor, and is 
the most sensitive and active. Sometimes he appears to re- 
pent of some failure in the calculations he has made concern- 
ing his creatures ; attempts to rectify the error, and again 
blunders. He at one time says : " fury is not in me" then 
again he is all fury. No truth is more striking than this, — 
that the Jehovah of the Bible is not, cannot be, the universal 
governor of the universe, but merely a creature of the imag- 
ination, whose power is confined, having no existence with- 
out the covers of the Bible. 

But to return to Abram : — Jehovah either goes to him, or 
sends to him delegates, to acquaint him of the choice he is 
about to make of " Abram and his seed forever." This is 
but the beginning of a new experiment on the human race. 
And here does it not plainly appear, that Jehovah's mode of 
acting, in this case, is unworthy of the governor of the world? 
Does it not prove his total disregard for the welfare of the 
rest of mankind ? Good heavens ! the believers, one and 
all, of such absurdities, have ever been, and are still insane. 

These heavenly visiters find Abram and Sarah living 
comfortably in their tent, watching flocks and herds. They 
(the angels) are treated with the hospitality common in pas- 
toral life. They have their feet washed ; they are invited 
to dine on the best; the calf is immediately killed; and 
Sarah, was not slow on her part, in the cooking department, 



4 GOD'S CHOSEN PEOPLE. 

from which, one might be induced to think, that over the 
door of the tent was written: "Dinners Dressed at the 
Shortest Notice." — Soon after being seated, the messengers 
make known their errand ; Abram was much pleased ; Sa- 
rah laughed outright. The promise was now ratified that 
had before been made to Abram, that his seed should be as 
the sand of the sea in number, for that Sarah should have a 
son in her old age. This, to say the least of it, was good 
pay for a good dinner. 

Here, then, the reader will please to notice, was the final 
settlement as it regards the Jews being the chosen people of 
God. And here the following ceremony took place: — Three 
men, angels, or messengers, came from Heaven ; they had 
their feet washed, agreeably to eastern custom; they sat 
down and did eat, and we may suppose did also drink with 
Abram and Sarah ; one of the three was called the Lord. 

I have here strictly adhered to the Bible history of this 
surprising account ; and if it be not literally true, the choice 
of the Jews, and also the whole of the Jewish and Christian 
theology, falls prostrate. The account winds up with the 
departure of the angels to Sodom ; where, after having dined 
with Abram, they took supper with Lot. The day follow- 
ing, Sodom was burnt by fire from Heaven ; Lot's wife (by 
way of making the most of her) was turned into a pillar of 
salt, because she looked back on her old habitation. What 
became of the angels, Heaven only knows ! 

But to return to the Jews, as a nation. For what purpose 
were they chosen ? It could not be to establish and support 
the only true religion on earth, whereby they became the 
constant and obedient servants of the Most High, because 
they continued to rebel against Jehovah ; and in spite of all 
his commands to the contrary, to worship other gods, which 
conduct provoked the Lord to anger, and the most dreadful 
punishment followed for their disobedience. They were not 
chosen to convert other nations to the faith and worship of 
the God of Israel, because they were ordered to take the 
property and destroy the inhabitants of towns and cities, 
with whom they had not the most distant quarrel. Once 



GOD'S CHOSEN PEOPLE. 5 

more, — Were they chosen for the purpose that Jehovah 
should be their God, and that they should he his people? 
No, because they, time after time, rejected his authority as 
their God, and worshipped strange gods, unknown to their 
fathers; for which He sent "prophets and holy men" to re- 
monstrate with them. But they killed the prophets ; and, 
as a nation, never were for any length of time converted to, 
nor obeyed, the God of Israel. 

It was promised to Abram, " In thee and in thy seed shall 
all the nations of the earth be blessed" When and how have 
the nations ever been blessed? As for the poor Jews, no 
curse ever fell so heavy on mortals as fell on them, in conse- 
quence of their considering themselves God's chosen people, 
and other nations treating them as such. For eighteen hun- 
dred years, Christians have plundered and murdered them, 
because they have faithfully worshipped (since He cast them 
off) the God of their fathers, against whom (when under his 
protection) they continued to rebel. 

The Jews are a strange people. Strange and hard has 
been their fate; and it can be easily accounted for, from 
their being originally cheated into the fact that they were 
God's chosen people to the exclusion of the rest of the hu- 
man race. Christians ask how it could have been possible for 
Moses or any other person to induce them to believe that they 
were so chosen, when miracles and wonders were performed in 
their behalf, if no such things did in reality take place? The 
answer is easy: — Christians suppose that the books of the Old 
Testament were written at the time the generation lived, be- 
fore whose eyes those wonders were performed. This is a fa- 
tal mistake. Those miracles and wonders, no doubt, were 
ante-dated, and brought forward to the Jews in after times, as 
proofs of what Jehovah had done for their forefathers ; for it 
clearly appears from the internal evidence of Jewish history, 
that the five books said to have been written by Moses, were 
not known to the Jews, as a nation, till after the reigns of 
David, Solomon, and many others. At what time the five 
books were first made known to the descendants of Abram, 
is not ascertained ; but. whenever it was. they contained the 
1* 



g GOD'S CHOSEN PEOPLE. 

histoiy of the Abrahamic family, including all the miracles 
and wonders performed by Jehovah in their behalf. 

It is easy to perceive, how the Jews might be brought to 
believe all that was written concerning God's choice of them, 
as his peculiar people. An ambitious leader and legislator 
could, without much difficulty, soon establish them firmly in 
the conviction that they were Jehovah's chosen people. . It 
would flatter their vanity ; and the credulity of the human 
mind is such, even now, that we need not wonder that the 
Jews, as a nation, gave credence to the tales of former times 
concerning their being the especial favorites of Jehovah. The 
Jews, then, no doubt were cheated into the firm conviction 
(by their early leaders) that they, of all people on earth, were 
the chosen of Heaven. This will account for their keeping 
themselves as a, separate people — the heaviest curse that could 
befal them, and which remains on them till this day. 

According to the Bible, the dealings of Jehovah towards 
mankind in general, and of the Jews in particular, will bear 
out the following remarks : — That, after the confusion of 
tongues at Babel, and the descendants of Noah were dispers- 
ed abroad on the earth, the Bible God forsook the earth for 
some hundred years. He had no worshippers on earth. 
He then descends and selects one family to be called after 
his name. From that moment, Jehovah appears to direct 
his whole attention to the famity concerns of his new choice. 
Troubles come on in quick succession; Abram's domestic 
jars claim his attention and superintendence. Sarah and 
her maid servant quarrel ; the maid is turned out of doors, 
about a child who claimed Sarah's husband as its father. 

The Lord interfered and matters were made up. But 
soon another misunderstanding arose between Sarah and 
Hagar about the child who had ill-behaved himself towards 
Abram's wife. Sarah became enraged, and got the better 
of the Lord : and Abram and she drove Hagar and her son 
out of the house for good and all. The Lord again made 
the best of the matter by sending an angel who took charge 
of Hagar' s son ; and Abram and Sarah lived happy, and 
directed all their attention to little Isaac. 



GOD'S CHOSEN PEOPLE. 7 

To return to the Jews, as a nation. Did they answer the 
end for which they were chosen ? Most undoubtedly they 
did. For. as " known unto the Lord are all his works from 
the beginning" whatever his dealings were towards them, 
in punishing them for their rebellion and disobedience, and 
whatever suffering they endured in consequence of their de- 
parture from his commands, are included in his choice; and 
are the ends for which they were chosen. Here, then, we 
have arrived at the ends for which they were selected, — he 
knowing that they would continue to transgress, and also 
that such transgression would call forth his anger ; and that 
punishment would follow from their disobedience. These 
are the only ends that we can discover by their being chos- 
en, and these ends were fully answered. 

And as Jehovah is represented as acting the same as men 
act under similar circumstances, the following remarks are in 
accordance with his dealings with the people of his choice, 
namely: that after Jehovah had driven the inhabitants of 
Babel abroad on the face of the earth, and not having any 
church or worshippers in the world, he became weary of this 
state of inaction, and, sighing for something to do, he chose 
the descendants of Abram for his future operations on the 
earth. And from that moment, the Jews required all his at- 
tention; his anger was always raging; he had no repose 
whatever. 

In the course of his watching over them, he occasionally 
stirred up the heathen against them, and suffered them to 
become bondmen and slaves. Then, again, they had arms 
put into their hands, and he marched out in aid of their vic- 
tories; and then the "Lord of Hosts toas his name" Then, 
as if he had forgotten the promises made to their forefathers, 
he repents of the neglect shown to them; again renews the 
combat and orders them to war against nations, and to spare 
neither old age nor infancy. So that, by turns, hating them 
and showing them no mercy ; then again, repenting of his 
severe conduct towards them, proclaiming to the world that 
the Lord of Hosts or battle is his name, — the Bible account 
of Jehovah confirms us, in concluding, that, he chose the 



g GOD'S CHOSEN PEOPLE. 

family of Abram for no other purpose than to disturb and 
brutalize the rest of the world. 

The Jews, and their God, seem to be objects of pity and 
contempt. Pity for the poor Jews, for their unfortunate 
fate ; and as for Jehovah, if the Bible be true, from the mo- 
ment he adopted them as his favorites, he became subject to 
rage, furious anger, grief, repenting of the choice he had 
made ; and finally casting them off. These, then, are some 
of the glorious ends for which they were chosen. To con- 
clude — Of all the impositions that ever have been palmed 
on the inhabitants of the earth, destructive of " peace on 
earth and good will towards men" that of the Jews being 
God's chosen people, is one of the greatest; the Jehovah of 
the Bible, being nothing but an imaginary God, to cheat the 
world into the faith of his being the Sovereign Ruler of the 
Universe. 



THE OLD TESTAMENT. 



CHAPTER I. 

FROM THE CREATION TO THE DELUGE. 

From what has before been written, the reader is no doubt 
convinced, that the writer of this work does not believe the 
Bible to have any claim to divine authority ; but is entirely, 
from beginning to end, a collection of absurd tales, of histor- 
ic facts, and of personages that have no foundation in truth, 
which unfortunately, by being considered of divine origin, 
has generated a train of calamities destructive to the peace 
and welfare of the human race. And to account for its hav- 
ing gained credit, and got such strong foothold in the world, 
we have only to consider that fable is the elder sister of his- 
tory ; that nations have run a long career of incidents, most- 
ly fabulous, before any appearance of authentic history made 
its way in the world. What took place in those days may 
be considered like things taking place in the dark. 

From such fabulous materials, then, national history al- 
ways commences. Not that the writers or authors intend 
to deceive and impose on posterity; they write what they 
believe; what they have been told, and what is generally 
credited in those days. Here, then, we discover the Bible 
to be of use to us, in showing to what lamentable extent 
poor mortals have sincerely erre"d in following the legendary 
tales of former times. And uoav, that the bandage is remov- 
ed from our eyes, let us all use our best exertions to spread 



16 



FROM THE CREATION TO THE DELUGE. 



knowledge among those, who, with us, are seeking after 
truth, but who have till now sought it where it is not to be 
found. 

The authors of the Bible, no doubt, followed in the same 
track as those who are called profane writers. They wrote 
what had been* told them by their forefathers. Hence the 
miracles and wonders, credited by them, of the most ex- 
travagant nature, that never did and never could take place ; 
and unfortunately, for the peace and happiness of mortals, 
by giving credit to such things, they, for ages, shut up every 
avenue that would otherwise have led them to the temple 
of truth. 

To believe the account of Adam's transgression, in connec- 
tion with all the circumstances attending it, to be a matter 
of fact, appears hardly possible for any man of sane mind. 
Yet millions there are, who never have had a doubt of its 
being literally true. Whoever first wrote it, did so from tra- 
dition or hearsay, as this is the origin of all national history. 
It is not impossible but that every nation of antiquity had a 
similar commencement ; because, as history did not appear 
till hundreds of years after the facts related are said to have 
taken place, it follows that hearsay evidence is the best and 
only evidence that can be obtained. If this is a correct view 
of the strange tales related in the Bible; then, the more 
strange and impossible the greater glory is given to God, by 
swallowing all down, and asking no questions. 

The Bible commences, as to persons, with — first, Jehovah, 
Adam, and Eve, and, according to the orthodox Christians, 
the Devil was near at hand. Here, then, we have before 
us, according to Bible history, Jehovah, God of all, about to 
form or make a world, and put on it both man and beast. 
This was done without consulting in any way whatever, 
with Adam and Eve, who were to be placed at the head of 
all creation. Every circumstance that would take place to 
Adam and Eve. and their posterity, throughout all ages, was 
planned, approved of, and finally settled, in the mind of Je- 
hovah, before they had life or being. 

Here we have a God knowing all that will take place: 



FROM THE CREATION TO THE DELUGE. H 

and arranging circumstances favorable to its fulfilment. On 
the other hand, Adam and Eve were ignorant of the past, 
the present, and also of the future. Only notice the infinite 
difference between the two contracting parties. I wish the 
reader to keep this in view, as it respects what is termed the 
fall of our first parents. In all ages of the Christian super- 
stition, the fall of Adam has been urged as a justification of 
God's quarrel with the human race. 

Let us examine this subject calmly. It is but justice that 
this should be done ; since from one hundred thousand pul- 
pits in the different nations of the earth, the priests never fail 
to praise and thank the Lord for his goodness to the descend- 
ants of Adam. I, on the other hand, will honestly, though 
feebly, advocate the cause of poor, libelled, condemned, priest- 
ridden Man. If, before our first parents had been called 
into life, they had been informed on what conditions they 
and their posterity were to receive it, together with the final 
destiny of ninety out of every hundred of their unfortunate 
race, they would no doubt have exclaimed, " For humani- 
ty's sake, let us forever sleep in the womb of chaos !" It is 
the common practice from the pulpit, as also from the writ- 
ings of the orthodox Christians, to libel the human race, by 
saying, that man has rebelled against God, and turned from 
him; when the truth is, that in all ages and nations, man 
has been seeking after the best God he could find, and God 
has always remained the great Unknown, while man, in 
whatever state we find him, "savage, saint, or sage," has 
been endeavoring to find out God. 

This has always been his misfortune. By trying to find 
out the absent and unknown God, he has, in his imagina- 
tion, invented and followed a thousand foolish whims, till, 
losing all correct ideas of moral rectitude, he has died of old 
age without arriving at the knowledge of whom or what to 
worship. Whereas, if he had not troubled himself at all 
about his maker, and, by the aid of his reasoning powers, 
had come to the just conclusion, that as he knew not how. 
nor where to find God, it would follow that it was the busi- 
ness of his maker, and not his, to instruct in the right way 



12 FROM THE CREATION TO THE DELUGE. 

to worship the true God. This mode of reasoning will be 
reprobated by Christians as horrid and wicked; but in reply 7 
it may be asked, to what amount of knowledge have they 
arrived by all their seeking after him ? 

We now return to the Bible account of Adam and Eve's 
creation. The position that justice, strict justice, is due on 
the part of God towards his new creation, must never be 
lost sight of in our investigations. If any thing like trickery 
or injustice on his part is recorded, we, without hesitation, 
denounce it as a libel on his character, and totally unworthy 
of the least credit. In reviewing the Old and New Testa- 
ment, as being considered a Divine Revelation, this criterion 
will be always referred to; for, if any writings purporting 
to be of Divine authority, represent their author to be any 
thing otherwise than a God impartial and just, such writings 
will, by the author of this work, be considered entirely un- 
worthy of the broad, seal of Heaven, and as fully deserving 
of being held up to human beings as false, and a flagrant 
imposition on the credulity of mankind. 

And here the reader is reminded, that we have now before 
us, in the creation of man, a scene of the most surprising 
nature. A God, infinite in wisdom, unbounded in power, 
about to bring into existence a race of beings; he, on his 
part, possessing all knowledge of the past, the present, and 
also of the future ; and they, on their part, entirely passive, 
not being consulted as to their organization, their wishes, or 
the consequences that would result to their progeny. From 
such a position, what ought we to expect, in order that the 
being about to be made, might have a fair point from which 
to start in his untried career 1 Would we not suppose that 
every advantage should have been given to the party who 
had no voice concerning his future destiny, nor that of his 
race? The smallest omission in providing for or securing 
his first movements, would be fatal to his happiness, and 
also that of his race. 

That no such precaution, on the part of the God of the 
Bible, was pursued towards his new made creatures, will be 
fully proved by the examination of the events recorded as 



FROM THE CREATION TO THE DELUGE. 13 

having taken place in the Garden of Eden. Whatever were 
the passions or the inclinations included in the physical or- 
ganization of our first parents, they had not any control over 
them whatever, because of the impossibility of their being 
consulted in a state of non-existence. Whatever they were 
then, and, also, what was to be their future destiny, was 
known to Jehovah only ; to Adam and Eve, it was all un- 
known. This, then, was the state of the pretended Creator 
and the creatures. 

We will pass over the account of the six days' creation, 
together with the serpent's deceiving Eve by the aid of what 
the Christians believe to be the Devil. It deserves no com- 
ment, except, that from the account given in the Bible, we 
may infer, that happy would it have been for Adam if he 
had remained an old bachelor ; for, in that case, Satan per- 
haps would neither have scraped acquaintance with the 
serpent, nor ever thought of lurking about the garden. But 
the source of all human misfortune, according to the Old and 
New Testaments, is included in Eve's eating the forbidden 
fruit. We may ask, why was one tree forbidden among so 
many 1 Certainly as a trap, set to catch the inexperienced, 
virtuous, and harmless Eve. What humbug ! to make such 
a fuss about Adam's being alone, without a help-mate; and 
at the very time the rib operation was going on, Jehovah 
stood by, and knew, whatever he might say, that the wo- 
man, on leaving her ribship, would damn ail that he had 
declared to be good. Can we, dare we, charge the Governor 
of the Universe with such trickery ? It must never be lost 
sight of, that the very prohibition of one tree, would be cer- 
tain, in their state of ignorance, to produce the consequence 
that followed: viz., to induce Eve, from curiosity, to partake 
of it. Is it any thing short of insanity to suppose that such 
dreadful consequences would follow so trifling an offence? 

This forbidden tree had something in it, that, to us, seems 
very strange. It was to impart knowledge ; and as the fruit 
was inviting to the eye, and a desire existing to obtain know- 
ledge, Eve fell a victim to her unfortunate curiosity. Noi 
was this all. Until Eve ate thereof, it appears that th 
2 



l£ FROM THE CREATION TO THE DELUGE. 

happy couple did not perceive their want of clothing. In- 
stantly they set to work to repair this first mishap, by sew- 
ing leaves together to make aprons. But in this stage of the 
business, the Lord seems to have some compassion left, for 
he, " the Lord, made coats of skins and clothed them" — poor 
Adam and Eve being ignorant of the strength and durability 
of leaf aprons. We may suppose the Lord as thinking or 
saying to Adam, — "Why, this will never do; you must 
have something more lasting, or else, by every wind that 
blows, you will be no more than a bundle of tattered rags." 
Soon, therefore, by the Lord's assistance, poor Adam and 
Eve jumped into a new suit of clothes ! And, to make sure 
of man's destruction, by taking that which was forbidden, 
the serpent was permitted to point out the advantages that 
would follow ; so that the appearance of the fruit, and the 
desire to get knowledge, urged on by the serpent, together 
with Eve's ignorance that any thing like lying existed in 
the Garden of Eden, the disobedience of our first parents 
was, by ninety-nine chances out of a hundred, secured, and 
the damnation of their posterity made sure. 

Now, to ascribe such conduct to God, such barefaced de- 
sign to quarrel with his new creation, is horrid in the ex- 
treme, and would disgrace (bad as it is said he is) the very 
Devil himself. And if the account is not true, if the facts, 
as recorded, did not take place, but are altogether to be con- 
sidered as an allegory, then it follows, that human redemp- 
tion is an allegory, also ; and the whole fabric of the Jewish 
and Christian religion falls to the ground. 

In dismissing this father of humbugs, (the fall of our first 
parents.) which ended in Adam and Eve's expulsion from 
Paradise, by way of consolation, we may hi justice say, 
" Farewell, Adam and Eve ; you have had but a rough be- 
ginning. God and the Devil have both conspired to make 
you unhappy. But never mind, do your best ; comfort and 
console each other ; the whole world is before you. This 
garden trade has proved a failure altogether. If you can 
but procure a spade, a hoe, and shovel, you will in time get 
on; and, as your present misfortune originated from tha 



FROM THE CREATION TO THE DELUGE. 15 

unforeseen quarrel in the garden, live in peace, and share 
equally in your troubles, and also in your prosperity. Things 
are not so bad, after all ; and if Adam's wound in the side is 
not yet entirely healed, it is your duty, Eve, as a good wife, 
to pay particular attention to it. It is for your interest, also; 
for if Jehovah should be again offended with you, as in the 
garden, and take from Adam the opposite rib from which 
you sprang, and of it make a second Eve, the serpent would 
pay another visit to mar your happiness, and your troubles 
would have no end." 

What kind of religion there was, if any, in those days, 
we know not ; but Cain and Abel, Adam's sons, appear to 
have been worshippers of Jehovah, notwithstanding the ex- 
pulsion of their parents from Paradise. We have it recorded 
that, in the course of their worship, Cain's offering was of 
the " fruits of the earth," and Abel's was "a lamb with the 
fat thereof." Cain's offering had no respect paid to it ; but, 
on the other hand, Abel's offering was respected. The rea- 
son why the one was rejected and the other accepted, we 
have no means of knowing ; at any rate, Jehovah knew that 
murder would follow as a consequence. Here, then, we have 
an account of the first religious quarrel, and the murderous 
spirit that was connected with it. And history confirms 
this truth, that the same murderous spirit has always, more 
or less, shown itself in all religious disputes ; but more dread- 
ful and furious in the Jewish and Christian religions than in 
any others. From Cain, the first religious murderer, to the 
present day, intolerance and blood appear to have stained 
the pages of Jewish and Christian history. And now, that 
those days of persecution have passed away, let us do all in 
our power to prevent their recurrence. 

Following the history of the antediluvians, in Genesis, 
chap, vi., we are not a little surprised to find a new race of 
beings on earth. We find, that after li me?i began to multiply 
on the face of the earth, and daughters were born unto them, 
that the sons of God saw the daughters of men, that they 
were fair, and they took them xoives of all ivhich they chose, 
and they bare children unto them ; the same became mighty 



J 5 FROM THE CREATION TO THE DELUGE. 

men, which were of old men of renown" Here we may ask, 
is it possible to believe in the truth of this account? But 
for its being recorded in the Bible, no person, having one 
grain of common sense, would for a moment give it the least 
credit. But, its truth rests on the same authority as the fall 
of our first parents, and no doubt is equally true. We are 
told, by Christ, that in heaven, they : ' neither marry nor are 
given in marriage '• ; but here it seems that the sons of God 
were tired of their restraint, and broke loose, and came a 
wooing the pretty young girls of those days : and, from the 
account, the courtship was short ; for they took to them, 
wives of all that they chose. Good heavens ! how the 
young men of those days must have stared to see the young 
ladies so pliable ! If, in those days, " bustles " were not 
worn by the girls, the sons of God soon put them, one and 
all, in a bustle. Wonder how those gentlemen were dressed, 
that the women became so soon captivated ! If, in the course 
of their negociations, some girl, more thoughtful than the rest, 
had asked her strange lover what employment he intended 
to follow, he would have been stuck fast to have given an 
answer. After all, if this account is to be considered true, 
heaven is not in so happy a state as is represented ; for the 
sons of God became uneasy in their confinement, and pre- 
ferred a love frolic to Gabriel's evening song. As heaven is 
considered to have the most enchanting music, perhaps the 
new visiters brought with them their instruments, and began 
their courtship by a heavenly jig. It does not appear that 
Jehovah exhibited any displeasure on account of the sons of 
God leaving the blessed abodes and marrying the daughters 
of men. For aught we know, it was an experiment to im- 
prove the antediluvian race. 

But leaving this point for ministers of the gospel to settle, 
it seems as if their progeny were a jolly set of fellows, and 
became u men of renown?" Taking, then, a review of the 
world from its creation until it was destroyed by the deluge, 
we discover, that if the facts recorded are true, and did re- 
ally take place, it was one continued chapter of blunders. 
First, Adam is made and set to work. It is next discovered 



FROM THE CREATION TO THE DELUGE. \f 

that he requires a partner; but, behold! no materials are left 
with which to make one. Adam is then laid up in dock ; 
taken to pieces like an old steamboat ; one of his timbers 
removed, and a woman appears. Things go on well, but 
only for a short time. Eve soon longs for fruit ; she takes 
it; then, lo, and wonder! she and her husband discover, and 
for the first time feel, a sense of decency. They set to 
work to make aprons ; this is but lost labor. The Lord, it 
appears by the account, was not in the garden, but on re- 
turning, found his servants partly clothed. He informs them 
of their error; sets to work and protects them from wind and 
weather. To be sure, they were not turned out naked ; the 
very ground was cursed for their bad conduct, and thorns 
and thistles would spring up to annoy them. Whether the 
Garden of Eden was given up altogether, or another gar- 
dener employed to keep it, we have no account. 

This, at any rate, was paying dear for an apple, or peach. 
We find, however, that our first parents did not despair; for 
they soon raised a family. If this expulsion did actually 
take place, to talk of family troubles is nothing, compared to 
this unfortunate couple. For one single fault, to be driven 
as outcasts from their only known home, to wander they did 
not know where, without experience or capital to begin 
with ! Of all the houseless wanderers, their lot seems to be 
the most piteous to behold. 

Again, whether " the sons of God " were permitted to de- 
scend and marry the daughters of men by way of improving 
the race, we know not. If improvement was Jehovah's ob- 
ject in this strange union, another failure, equal to former 
ones, was the result. The antediluvians, one and all, were 
so wicked, that u the Lord repented that he had made man 
on the earth; and it grieved him at his heart." One excep- 
tion only, in the family of Noah ; to whom Jehovah imme- 
diately communicated his determination to destroy man and 
beast by a flood — Noah's family only excepted. 

To conclude this chapter, a few remarks will suffice. — If 
the foregoing account of the creation is maintained to be 
truly the work of Infinite Wisdom and Power, what a pic- 
2* 



J8 A REVIEW OF THE DELl/GE", 

ture presents itself to the mind of a sensible and reasonable 
man! Can it be possible for such an one to believe it? His 
mind must reject it as the most barefaced falsehood that ever 
could be proposed to human credence ; as impossible to be 
£rue, and equally impossible to be credited by any person 
having the least claim on common sense. And yet, in this 
crazy world, to give credit to it, is to be respectable ; but to 
deny fits /truth, is to be infamous, and an object of Christian 
horror, unworthy to live in this world, and sure of damna- 
tion in the next No man living can get over this certain 
.conclusion, that if the Governor of the Universe did act to- 
wards Adam and Eve, together with the rest of the antedi- 
luvians, as is recorded in the Bible, he made them for no 
other apparent end than to quarrel with them, so as to have 
a pretence to punish and torment creatures who had no power 
to resist. And can such a Being be the object of love and 
adoration? The Devil himself is not painted in colors half 
so black. 

JSut enough has been said on this subject. We turn from 
it in disgust, and boldly say to all the world, that no such 
God ever did, nor does now exist; nor did the facts recorded 
in the Bible, of Adam's fall, ever take place. 



CHAPTER II. 



A REVIEW OF THE DELUGE AND THE CONFUSION OF 
TONGUES AT THE TOWER OF BABEL. 

To destroy all mankind by drowning, because of their 
wickedness, seems to us a strange reason ; for, when we at- 
tentively consider it, we are compelled to conclude that the 
Jewish God had banished from his moral government the 
very appearance of justice. What! no compassion for the 
young men and women who had been brought up under cir- 



AND THE CONFUSION OF TONGUES. JO, 

Cunlstances so unfavorable to virtue, from the bad example 
of their fathers? What! no mercy for the thousands of 
infants'? What ! no feeling towards the youth, from man- 
hood through all the gradations down to helpless infancy 1 
None. We know that it is common for men and Women to 
go crazy. From so strange a perversion of justice on the 
part of Jehovah, it would seem that he, at times, has his 
crazy fits, also. Destroy the innocent with the guilty — 
allowing the innocent no chance of escape ! If this were 
performed by an earthly monarch, insanity would be the 
most charitable allowance to be made for so atrocious an 
act. But when ascribed to the all- wise and powerful God, 
and insisted on as an article of faith, such doctrines are only 
fit for madmen to preach and idiots to hear. Christians little 
think to what extent they blaspheme the God whom they 
profess to adore. 

Let us bring this horrid scene nearer to our eyes :-** thou- 
sands and tens of thousands of children from six years old 
and up to the age of maturity, of both sexes, imploring for 
mercy, cut off in the midst of enjoyment, for crimes over 
which they had no control, and which their tender age pre- 
cluded them from committing : yet to them the door of mercy 
was forever closed. A raging Almighty God commanding 
Noah to proceed, that his vengeance might be satisfied ! 
Only look at such a picture, so faintly drawn ; for if the 
deluge did really take place, this portrait bears but a small 
resemblance to a scene too dreadful for the contemplation of 
man, and, Oh ! heavens ! too unjust and cruel to ascribe to 
a God. To drown the whole of the human race by a flood, 
is one of the most dreadful visitations of vengeance that 
cruelty could execute. In it, we discover nothing to defend. 
The mind shrinks back with horror at the bare recital. It 
is one among hundreds of such acts recorded as being per- 
formed by the Lord. 

Turn to what part of the history you will, where the 
Jewish God is about to do something, or to interfere in any 
way in human affairs, the conduct ascribed to him, either 
in punishment or granting favor, you will find to be always 



20 A REVIEW OF THE DELUGE, 

contrary to justice and reason. If justice be the theme, it 
will end in cruelty. If to show favor, it will be sure to be 
ill directed and allied to favoritism. Among men, justice is 
the foundation of correct moral principles. On the contrary, 
the Bible God acts as if influenced by fury and almighty 
rage ; soon, very soon, angry ; very hard to please ; punish- 
ing and destroying his creatures, as if pain were a good 
instead of an evil, and man died without a groan. It is not 
possible to calculate the amount of evil that has taken place 
on the earth, in consequence of Christians taking for their 
example the conduct of their God. Let us mark the differ- 
ence between any misfortune that may befall the human 
race in the course of events, and the same evil inflicted by 
the Lord. In the former case, man will sympathize with 
his unfortunate fellow man; in the latter, however, it ap- 
pears cruel and unjust. "It is just, yes, and also merciful," 
says the Christian, "for God to destroy the innocent descend- 
ants of his enemies, because he has a right to do whatever 
he pleases with his own." 

This mode of reasoning, the believers in the divinity of 
the Bible resort to, in order to shield Jehovah from the at- 
tacks of Infidels, for bringing on the deluge ; and the same 
mode is followed throughout, to justify the Lord in all his 
warlike movements against the nations doomed to die by 
the hands of his chosen people. Can we, then, wonder that 
both Jews and Christians, believing in, and worshipping, a 
God whose acts are so revolting to every idea of justice and 
humanity, — -can we, ought we, to be surprised that they 
have drank so deeply of that spirit of cruelty, injustice, and 
intolerance, that is recorded concerning the dealings of Je- 
hovah with his creatures, in involving in one common ruin 
the innocent with the guilty 1 For it is from the horrible 
character given of the Lord, that both Jews and Christians 
have in all ages drawn in, as by a kind of inspiration, the 
same spirit of cruelty and proscription, in imitation of their 
God. 

It is in vain that Christians assert, that the persecution 
that has attended the progress of Christianity, in all ages, is 



AND THE CONFUSION OF TONGUES. 21 

but the abuse of it. No ; it has been the thing itself. The 
moral precepts of the New Testament (and many of them 
are excellent) have never been strong enough to deter men 
from putting each other to death on account of their differ- 
ence of faith. Cruel Calvin, with the New Testament be- 
fore his eyes, and that saying staring him in the face, " He 
that hateth his brother is a murderer" — with this before his 
eyes, he caused the unfortunate Servetus to be burnt by a 
slow fire, so completely had the doctrines of the Bible de- 
stroyed in him all compassion. 

To show what baneful influence the doctrines of the 
Bible have had upon men eminent for their wisdom, jus- 
tice, and humanity, the following authentic account will 
fully prove : — rln the year 1664, two old women were hanged 
upon a charge of witchcraft, having been tried by a Jury 
before three learned Judges, at the head of whom was Sir 
Matthew Hale, who passed the dreadful sentence of the 
law, as it then stood, which was put into execution in about 
two weeks afterwards. A more upright, honest, wise, and 
humane Judge never sat in a court of justice ; and yet, be- 
hold! he condemned and caused two poor, ignorant, and 
defenceless old women to be hanged for a crime they neither 
did nor could commit. The remarks made to the Jury, by 
Sir Matthew, in substance were the following : — " Gentlemen 
of the Jury, you have nothing to do in inquiring whether the 
crime of witchcraft can be committed ; the Bible has settled 
that subject, — but, whether the evidence you have heard is 
proof that the prisoners are guilty of the charges brought 
against them," — which charges were, killing their neigh- 
bors' children by the agency and power of the Devil, and 
causing them to vomit pins and nails. Here, then, it is 
clear that it was the Word of God, and not Judge Hale, 
that brought about the death of those unfortunate women. 
Had Sir Matthew been an Infidel, the page of history had 
never been stained by the blood of two poor helpless beings. 

Let not Christians, then, say that persecution and intoler- 
ance are the abuses of Christianity. Its very essence is con- 
genial with blood and torture in all their horrid forms. The 



22 A REVIEW OF THE DELUGE, 

moral precepts of the Gospel never have nor ever will so far 
neutralize the doctrines of the Bible, as to guarantee the hu- 
man race in trusting power in the hands of the disciples of 
Jesus. They always will, according to the New Testament, 
prefer the man of orthodox faith, to men in common, how- 
ever virtuous. 

Having shown the injustice and cruelty of drowning all 
the inhabitants of the earth, — on account of the wickedness 
of some who ought to have been made an example to society 
at large, — let us inquire, what end was obtained by so uni- 
versal a destruction? Have the human race been more 
moral, and, on the whole, more virtuous, since the flood 
than before? If they have not, (and that they have not, 
the Bible itself fully proves,) it then follows, that no moral 
good resulted from their being destroyed ; and instead of the 
Lord's anger being softened down, it would rage in all its 
former fury. If the Lord really said to Noah, what the 
Bible records, " that it repented him that he had made man 
on the earth, and it grieved him at his heart" it is as much 
as to say, — "lean bear this distracted state of mind no 
longer ; I will try you and your family, Noah, and ease my- 
self of the disappointment I have endured from the wicked- 
ness of my creation ; I will have a better race on the earth 
which I have made, or man shall cease to exist." 

But did a better race succeed? No; for Noah, in time, 
became intemperate, and in a fit of intoxication became an 
object of contempt to one of his sons, who, so far forgot his 
duty to his intoxicated father, that instead of concealing his 
folly and shame, he exposed it. When Noah awoke from 
his slumber, and discovered what had taken place, he began 
most heartily to curse his son and his posterity for ages to 
come, and also to prophesy evil concerning them, which 
prophecy, according to the Bible, the Lord approved of and 
brought to pass. Here, again, Jehovah is disappointed; 
that is, if he expected a moral world better than the one he 
had destroyed. 

Turning, then, with detestation from an account which 
represents the Governor of the Universe as having drowned 



AND THE CONFUSION OF TONGUES. 23 

a world and repented he had made it, and also of being 
grieved at heart, we will notice Noah's preparing the ark 
and making ready for his singular voyage. Nothing short 
of repeated miracles could have completed the embarkation 
of Noah, his family, and the living cargo, or freight. A 
miracle must have been wrought on all those beasts, whose 
savage nature had made them a terror to man, in order that 
they might become tame, and be conveyed to the vicinity of 
the ark. Another miracle must have been in continual op- 
eration on all those who were engaged in procuring the 
beasts, birds, and reptiles, to induce them to labor without 
any remuneration for their toils, but the certainty of being 
left to perish by the flood. A continuation of miracles must 
follow on, to induce the then population to stand quiet, up 
to their necks in water, and not to make an effort to force 
their way into the ark before it was closed up ; and also to 
enable Noah and his family to attend to feeding and keeping 
clean their respective cages and dens. The water, also, to 
drown the world, and cover the highest hills, must be cre- 
ated for this express purpose, and then reduced again into 
its native nothingness. For, from an accurate calculation, 
it would require one hundred and eight times as much 
water as is now on the face of the earth, to cover the high- 
est mountain, admitting its height to be no more than twen- 
ty thousand feet, and there are mountains still higher. It 
would follow, therefore, that after the flood, one hundred 
and eight oceans must be annihilated, there not being room 
for so much water on the earth. 

From what has been said concerning the flood, it is clear 
that no such thing really took place, but that the whole is 
fabulous ; because, the deluge is said to be in consequence 
of the Lord's being grieved at the wickedness of the antedi- 
luvians. This is no reason why he should destroy them, 
even admitting the possibility of the fact. His grief could 
not be lessened by so doing, as men since the flood have 
been equally wicked as before; and have continued so, 
down to the present time. If the Lord was grieved then, 
and repented at having made man, he is still unhappy and 



24 A REVIEW OF THE DELUGE, 

continues to repent, because the evil that caused him then 
to grieve and to repent, is not removed. 

The reader is requested not to lose sight of one thing that 
is equally glaring both in the Old Testament and the New — 
that the Jehovah of the Jews is always blundering and mak- 
ing mistakes; the choice he often makes does not answer the 
end purposed, but falls short. Another and another plan is 
pursued ; still, some striking failures take place. The God 
of the Bible is as unlike the Supreme Power that governs 
the material universe, as the swarthy African is unlike the 
fair complexion of the temperate zone. 

As the main object of this work is to prove, as clear as 
the nature of argument will admit, that the Jehovah of the 
Jews is not the Supreme Ruler of Nature, let us examine 
their respective characters. The God of the Jews, in his 
acts, is governed by no correct principle of justice ; he is 
changeable, and subject to all the passions that, in turn, agi- 
tate the minds of mortals. How different is the Ruler of 
the world, of whom we know nothing, abstracted from the 
material universe ! In the government of the material 
world, we discover that "order is heaven's first law" ; that 
a regular arrangement of causes and effects pervade every 
department of nature. In it, there is no doing and undoing ; 
no derangement in the wonderful adaptation of cause and 
effect, of principles and consequences. In the laws that rule 
the universe, nothing happens that has the appearance of 
falling short of ends intended to be carried out : these laws 
depend not on the will or conduct of mortals ; but the more 
we are acquainted with them, the more we are compelled to 
admire the wonderful wisdom and harmony of the mighty 
whole. 

Is the kingdom of grace, or, in other words, does the Old 
and New Testaments present to us a God any way similar 
to the power that rules the world ? The God of Nature, an 
expression used to convey no other meaning than the power 
that mingles itself with the mighty whole, — does this power 
show any thing like partiality to nations, or to sects and 
parties ? Do the general laws, by which the world is gov- 



AND THE CONFUSION OF TONGUES. 25 

t erned, indicate any thing in their author of a vindictive or 
vengeful character? Any thing like disappointment or re- 
gret? Does the prosperity of nations, or of individuals, 
depend (abstractly considered) on whether they worship one, 
or many Gods, or none at all ? 

On the contrary, the Jehovah of the Bible is depicted as 
being more unstable than mortals. Ye Jews and Christians ! 
in vain do you vindicate the character and conduct of your 
God towards the human race, by saying that " he ought to 
do what he pleases with his own." The conduct of the 
most cruel and unjust tyrant that ever lived can with more 
truth and propriety be exonerated than your God; because 
a tyrant, however wicked and cruel, may have to contend 
with those who are capable of doing him an injury, and 
self-defence on his part may form some excuse for his ac- 
tions. A tyrant may have to come in contact with others, 
his equals in power and physical force. But the Christian 
God is above any personal injury ; he has no rivals ; pos- 
sessing all power, all knowledge, nothing can take place by 
him unforeseen. If mortals, by their conduct, call forth his 
anger, he chooses to be angry. The human race did not 
ask for existence ; he alone was the projector. If mortals, 
in the course of their career through life, (as foreseen by 
him.) deserve punishment, he felt happy in punishing them. 
Ye ministers! prate, then, no longer against the "unblush- 
ing Infidel"; for, as you maintain that the God of the 
Bible is the author of the universe, we leave you to blush at 
the horrible character you portray of him whom you hypo- 
critically call a God of love ! Oh ! heavens ! what dreadful 
consequences have resulted from the Jehovah of the Jews 
being worshipped as the author of nature ! The worshippers 
of such a God have in all ages partaken, more or less, of his 
character for cruelty, injustice, and intolerance ; and under 
this banner '-'whole armies have marched forth to glut the 
earth with blood." 

Viewing, then, the Bible account of the deluge, in which 
the innocent were destroyed with the sinner, as but a fabulous 
3 



25 FROM THE CONFUSION OF TONGUES 

tale, had I a voice loud enough to make all mankind hear, I 
would boldly and fearlessly proclaim it a falsehood, disgrace- 
ful to God, and too foolish to obtain credit in the present age. 



CHAPTER III 



FROM THE CONFUSION OF TONGUES TO THE BIRTH OF 

MOSES. 

The object to be accomplished in this chapter is, to show, 
from the Bible history itself, the folly and absurdity of ad- 
mitting the Jehovah of the Bible to be the Supreme Ruler 
of the Universe ; for, after destroying every thing that had 
life, by the flood, Jehovah, somewhat like a conquering 
hero, returns to heaven. The war with the human race 
being over, Divine vengeance is satisfied. No religious wor- 
ship, that we read of, was then known on the earth. But, 
behold ! a new outbreak occurs, that requires the immediate 
interference of the God of Israel. 

In Genesis, chapter xi., it is recorded, that the then inhab- 
itants of the earth began to build a tower, the top of which 
was to reach the heavens, that they might make to them- 
selves a great name, and be no more scattered abroad on the 
earth. What crime it could be considered by Jehovah, for 
men to unite in building a tower so lofty that the top would 
reach the heavens, we know not. However ignorant the 
then inhabitants of the earth were, the Lord knew that they 
could not annoy him by the erection of a tower to any height 
they might be inclined to raise it. The writer of the account 
makes it appear, that Jehovah became uneasy at the pro- 
gress the workmen were making, and at last could bear it 
no longer; so he came down, as the term is, and confounded 
their speech in such a manner that they could not under- 
stand each other. 



TO THE BIRTH OF MOSES. 27 

Can it be possible, for men who reflect at all, to believe 
such glaring nonsense ? The writers of the Bible have not 
only made a God unjust and vengeful, but they have put 
into his head such foolish whims, as, that after having de- 
stroyed a world by a deluge, the innocent with the guilty, he 
came down from heaven to scare away carpenters and brick- 
layers from their honest labor; and have made him virtually 
to say — " Be off! Clear out ! I will not permit you to ham- 
mer away here!" The conduct of the Bible God towards 
the builders of Babel, and, in fact, the whole of the then 
human family, seems to be like that of an unfeeling father, 
who cares not for his children, and who is also equally in- 
different as to whether the human race worshipped him, or 
fell down to worship stocks or stones ; for, instead of order- 
ing them to build an altar to the true and living God, he 
ordered them off, to wander abroad on the earth, and do the 
best they could. And here an opportunity was lost of in- 
suring their conversion ; since, as they were all of one lan- 
guage and speech, how easy to convert the whole race at 
oncei Now, here we may discover a man-made God. 
(Sometimes he is all jealousy for his own name — all fir/ 
against idolatry; at other times, he seems to care but lit t!^ 
for the happiness of his creatures, or the honor of his nam. 
After having compelled the builders of Babel to quit their 
undertaking, Jehovah returns back to heaven ; and from the 
silence of Bible history, he does not appear to have super- 
intended human affairs at all, for hundreds of years after. 
And now, ye ministers of the Gospel of grace, what havf 
you to say in vindication of the very existence of such a 
God 1 The origin of your God is of man's creation ; he 
never had a real existence. 

After an absence of many years, having given up, to all 
appearance, any interest in human affairs, Jehovah turns his 
attention to Abram and his family, and adopts them as his 
chosen people. And from this account, we clearly discover 
the absurdity of believing the God of Abram to be the uni- 
versal sovereign ; for, from the moment of the adoption of 
Abram and his seed forever, from that very moment the 



28 FROM THE CONFUSION OF TONGUES 

family affairs of Abram, Isaac and Jacob, seem to engross 
the attention of Jehovah ; and, while I am writing, I blnsh 
for shame at the credulity of mankind in professing to be- 
lieve such contemptible trash. What can be more weak and 
ridiculous than to suppose that the Lord and two angels came 
to the tent of Abram, and went through all the ceremonies 
of a pastoral visit, — such as washing of feet and taking 
water, until dinner was prepared, and that while partaking 
of Abram's hospitality, they inquired for his wife, and then 
renewed what before had been promised, namely — that 
Sarah, Abram's wife, should have a son in her old age? 

One remarkable feature, throughout the whole of the 
Bible, presents itself. It is this : that in every movement 
Jehovah makes among his favorite people the Jews, and in 
all the correspondence he holds with Abram and his seed, 
every thing is done by way of experiment on that people ; 
as if Jehovah did not know what would happen until he 
had gained information by actual experiment ! In the case 
of the builders of the Tower of Babel, it is said — " And the 
Lord came down to see the city, and the tower which the chil- 
dren of men builded" And again — i 'Go to, let us go down, 
and there confound their language." And also, in the case 
of Sodom, the Lord told Abram concerning the cry of the 
wickedness of the inhabitants of Sodom. The Lord said to 
Abram — "J will go down now, and see whether they have 
done altogether according to the cry of it, which is come unto 
me ; if not, I will know" — [Genesis xviii. 21. 

Abram, having heard of the intended destruction of the 
Sodomites, remonstrates with Jehovah on the injustice of 
destroying the innocent with the guilty. Then follows the 
pleading of Abram with the Lord, in favor of Sodom; and 
from the willingness of the Lord to comply with the request 
of Abram, — if the old patriarch had had the moral courage 
to have gone on with one more request, — Sodom might have 
been saved. The personage who communed with Abram 
is, by the inspired writer, called the " Judge of all the earth" 
The same who had that day dined with Abram, and to whom 



TO THE BIRTH OF MOSES. 29 

Abram said, u Behold, now I have taken upon me to speak 
unto the Lord, lohich am but dust and ashes "/ 

And now, patient reader, what have Christians to believe 
in reference to this matter ? Why, they must believe that 
the great immortal God came to the earth from his unknown 
abode, in the likeness of man, in company with two angels: 
that he called on Abram, who was surrounded by his flocks 
and herds, dwelling in a tent, perhaps inferior to our Indian 
log-houses; that he, the Judge of all the earth, with two of 
his angels, were (according to eastern hospitality) presented 
with water to drink, and also, water to wash their feet. — a 1 
practice most refreshing in a warm climate. An invitation 
was given them to dine, which they accepted ; and so par- 
ticular is the narrative, that, what they had for dinner is 
mentioned : the calf was instantly slain, and the baking 
commenced. 

And here we may inquire, whether or not this circum- 
stance did really take place, as it is recorded? If it did, 
then the believers in the Bible, as a Divine Revelation, have 
to believe that the Great God of all, the Universal Ruler of 
the Universe, came on earth to the tent of Abram, in the 
form of a man, with two of the angelic host ; and that they 
then and there had their feet washed, and sat down to a 
dinner of veal and griddle cakes, and did eat thereof, and 
drink water. Now, if Moses, or any other pretended in- 
spired writer, wrote this, I ask, is not the God of Abram a 
man-made God ? He is said to have feet that required 
washing, and an appetite that required food. He had a 
mouth, teeth, and also a stomach to receive food; and we 
may infer that he had hands, for it is not recorded that 
Abram cut his victuals, or fed him or the angels with a 
spoon. 

If the believers of the Bible consider that the foregoing 
account is allegorical, and not to be considered as having 
really taken place, it then follows that human redemption is 
allegorical, also ; for the promise made to Abram was, that 
" In thee and in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be 
Messed" This promise included the mission of Jesus, who 
3* 



30 FROM THE CONFUSION OF TONGUES 

was to save his people from their sins, and also to heal the 
nations, and to bring in everlasting righteousness. Christ- 
ians, then, if they believe the Bible to be a Divine Revela- 
tion, must believe that the Judge of the whole earth, while 
at dinner, in promising Abram a son, included also, in that 
promise, the mission of Jesus, the Saviour of the world. 

And here we may notice the views that Abram had of the 
Supreme Judge of all. As he appeared to Abram in the 
form of a man, and as such was treated by him, Abram 
brought forth water to wash the feet of the Lord, and in- 
vited him to dine, which he did ; which is proof positive 
that Abram considered that the Lord was in the habit of 
taking refreshment, such as eating and drinking, or he 
would never have thought of giving the Lord such an invi- 
tation. If this account be true, the New Testament must be 
false, when it declares that no man hath seen God at any 
time, and that none can see him and live. But of Abram it 
is written, that he saw the Lord, face to face, and also that 
they dined together; and, as if to remove all doubt of its 
truth, it mentions what they dined on, namely — veal and 
cakes. It therefore follows, that the account, as recorded of 
the Lord's dining with Abram, must be taken in its plain 
and literal sense ; because it is connected with the destruc- 
tion of Sodom and Gomorrah, and also of Lot's wife beine 
turned into a pillar of salt ; which account is referred to as 
having taken place, by the writers of the New Testament. 
After the Lord and the two angels had retired from dinner, 
the Lord informed Abram of his errand to the above cities ; 
which was, to find out whether their ill-fated inhabitants 
were as wicked as they had been reported ; as he (the 
Lord) was determined to know. It was then that Abram 
began to plead with the Lord, and to show the injustice of 
destroying the innocent with the guilty, as from the nature 
of the crime for which the people of Sodom and Gomorrah 
were to be destroyed, all the women and children were 
innocent. Abram, therefore, saw immediately the horrid 
cruelty and injustice of such destruction as was about to 
overtake the unfortunate inhabitants of Sodom. In the 



TO THE BIRTH OF MOSES. 31 

discussion, Abram had the best of the argument, but his ef- 
forts were unavailing. Fire came down from heaven, and 
they were burnt alive, innocent and guilty together. 

From the account it appears, that after the Lord parted 
with Abram, he also took his leave of the angels ; and what 
became of the Lord, the Bible is silent ; but the angels, after 
having dined with Abram, took supper with Lot. This Lot 
seems to be the only man in Sodom that was worth saving ; 
and he certainly acted very strange : for when his townsmen 
insisted on knowing who the angels were, and on what busi- 
ness they came, Lot offered to turn into the street his two 
innocent daughters, to be dealt with according to the wishes 
of those vile wretches, if they would but permit him to 
lodge and entertain the strangers. Certainly, the morality 
of the Bible is most sublime, and the ways of the Jewish 
God past finding out ! 

The case of Lot's wife is, to all appearance, very strange. 
Her crime of looking back, would appear to us much less 
than that of her husband's in turning his daughters into the 
street. The history of Lot winds up with a strange account, 
and not very favorable to strict morality, namely — the pro- 
ject of his daughters in making him drunk, and the disgust- 
ing consequences that followed. Thus, it is clear, that Lot's 
wife (bless the good old woman !) was the best, in a moral 
point of view, in the whole family: and only for looking 
back on her beloved home, she was treated like a dead sow, 
by being put into pickle. To conclude this tirade of non- 
sense and folly, we will add — ''remember Lot's wife." 

It appears from Bible history, that when Abram left his 
own country, he was any thing but rich ; and as his sub- 
stance consisted in a few heads of cattle, a famine soon 
overtook him as he journeyed, which induced him to go 
down into Egypt, the then granary of the earth. To pre- 
vent any unpleasant consequences that might result to 
Abram, because of the beauty of Sarah, his wife, she was 
instructed to call her husband her brother. It turned out 
as was expected, for she was recommended to Pharaoh, and 
taken into the royal palace. Immediately, presents came 



32 FROM THE CONFUSION OF TONGUES 

unto Abram in quick succession, consisting of " sheep and 
oxen, and he asses; men-servants and maid-servants ; and 
she asses and camels." But the Lord, ever watchful over 
Abram's affairs, troubled Pharaoh and his house ; and when 
Pharaoh discovered the cause of this evil, he remonstrated 
with Abram for his duplicity, and returned his wife unde- 
filed. So kind, however, was the Lord to Abram, that the 
presents were made before the cheat was discovered, and 
he came out of Egypt a rich man. 

This may be said to be the beginning of Abram's good 
luck; and we may suppose that in returning home to their 
old pasturage, Sarah would laugh and exclaim — "See what 
it is to have a handsome wife ! " Another famine will make 
brother Abram and sister Sarah the richest couple in pastoral 
life. 

In the course of events, Abram and Sarah had recourse 
again to the same trick, on Abimelech, King of Gerar, which 
had been acted with so much success in Egypt. Sarah, on 
account of her beauty, at ninety years of age, was taken by 
the King; but the Lord, ever the guardian of Sarah's virtue, 
came to Abimelech in a dream, and threatened him and all 
his house with death, if Sarah was not given up to her law- 
ful husband. The King remonstrated with the Lord, and 
justified his conduct by declaring, that both Abram and 
Sarah had deceived him; and said — ''In the integrity of 
my heart, and innocency of hands, have 1 done this." The 
Lord replied — " / know that you did it innocently, for I with- 
held thee from sinning against me ; therefore, suffered I thee 
not to touch her" Again, as before, presents of cattle, men- 
servants, and maid-servants, with a thousand pieces of silver 
into the bargain, were given to Abram, with his wife, who 
is as chaste as morning dew. 

I have dwelt longer on this account than I at first in- 
tended, merely to show the folly in believing that the Al- 
mighty Lord of all had any concern in such contemptible 
fooleries as are recorded in the family concerns of Abram. 
One thing, however, is omitted; and that is, the quarrel be- 
tween Sarah and Hagar. The tent or house became too hot 



TO THE BIRTH OF MOSES. 33 

to hold those rival women ; at last, Sarah triumphed by- 
turning out Hagar and her love-begotten child, which de- 
manded the Lord's interference, and gave poor Abram no 
small share of trouble. 

From the moment that Jehovah adopted the family of 
Abram, the Bible account warrants us in supposing that the 
family concerns of that patriarch particularly engaged the 
attention of Jehovah ; since, for every trifling concern that 
took place, the Lord was applied to in order to settle the 
matter. Rebekah, the mother of Jacob and Esau, when 
about to become a mother, applied to the Lord for informa- 
tion respecting her singular situation ; and the Lord informed 
her that she would be the mother of two celebrated nations, 
and satisfied her mind as to every other inquiry she made. 
And here we may ask, how it was that the Lord, in those 
days, was so easy of access? How every gossipping old 
woman could lay her case before the Lord, and wait his 
advice and answer? The reply is at hand. The whole 
account of the Lord's saying unto Abram, or the Lord's 
saying unto Moses, and again, u the word of the Lord came 
unto Moses, saying" is all humbug : no such word ever 
came ; no such conversation ever took place. 

Whoever wrote the Book of Genesis, has placed Jehovah 
in an immoral point of view ; as keeping company with un- 
principled knaves, and as acting without any regard to the 
strict rules of justice and mercy; as having a system of fa- 
voritism, which does not admit of administering impartial 
justice. The case of Jacob and Esau is directly opposed to 
truth and impartiality. Esau was, in a moral point of view, 
evidently the best of the two ; but Jacob was Jehovah's choice. 
Esau, according to Bible history, was a hardy, industrious, 
and generous man. Jacob, on the other hand, was his mo- 
ther's pet; and the deception which he and his mother 
played on old Isaac, who was blind, is in strict accordance 
with the conduct of all the Lord's favorites. Jacob, accord- 
ing to Bible history, was, through his whole life, full of de- 
ception and trickery. He could lie and take a false oath to 
deceive his blind father; and by deceit, deprive his brother 



34 FROM THE CONFUSION OF TONGUES 

Esau of his lawful right of inheritance. And yet the Lord 
was with him, and connived at all his baseness ! 

But Jacob, conscious of his wickedness, and justly deserv- 
ing his brother's resentment, fled to his uncle for protection. 
On his way, the Lord appeared to him in visions ; and, not- 
withstanding his lying and false swearing to his father, 
promised him divine assistance. Jacob still acted in the 
same crafty manner, even with the Lord himself; always 
having his own self-interest in view ; for, after the Lord had 
said, Genesis xxvii., 15, u And behold, I am with thee, and 
will keep thee in all places whither thou goest, and will bring 
thee again into this land ; for I id ill not leave thee until 1 
have done that which I have spoken to thee of," — even after 
this promise from the Lord, in verse 20 it is said — " And 
Jacob vowed a void, saying, if God will be with rue, and will 
keep me in this ivay that I go, and will give me bread to eat, 
and raiment to put on, so that I come again to my father's 
house in peace, then shall the Lord be my God." 

Well done, Jacob ! that is making a good Jew bargain. 
Jehovah and Jacob both kept their word ; for Jacob married 
his two cousins, the daughters of his uncle Laban, and staid 
with him until he, by the help of the Lord, contrived to 
jockey old Laban out of the best of his cattle, and ran 
away back to his own father's house, taking with him, by 
stealth, the gods of Laban his father. Thus did Jacob not 
only triumph over the heathen gods, by carrying them off 
captive, but continued to adhere to Jehovah, his own God, 
who did not desert him in his recreant tricks. It is not to 
be wondered that the sons of Jacob should be so base in 
their actions, after the example of their father ; and consid- 
ering what a mixed breed they were, having so many mo- 
thers. Their conduct towards their brother Joseph is a 
sample of their actions ; and although Bible history records 
the good fortune of Joseph, he, among the rest of his 
brethren, acted the tyrant as soon as power would permit 
him so to do. 

This chapter will conclude with a few remarks on the life 
of Joseph, and his career in Egypt. The fame and good 



TO THE BIRTH OF MOSES. 



fortune of Joseph, depended on his gift of interpreting 
dreams, which finally made him, under Pharaoh, Lord of 
the land; and according to his predictions, seven years of 
famine were to succeed seven years of plenty ; by which, 
Joseph planned the entire subjugation of Egypt. He, by 
the authority of Pharaoh, bought up all the grain left of the 
seven years' plenty ; and when the famine came, the grain 
was sold to the inhabitants at the price that Joseph was 
pleased to put upon it. But the famine continued so long 
that all the money was spent. The poor, half-starved 
people told Joseph their situation, and offered their cattle in 
exchange for grain ; the cattle were taken by him ; at last, 
all their cattle disappeared, and the people continued in 
want ; then, offer was made of their lands, which Joseph 
also took ; and with their lands, themselves ;. so the govern- 
ment took all. But after the famine, Joseph proposed to 
furnish them with seed wherewith to sow their fields, on 
condition that, ever after, Pharaoh was to have one-fifth of 
the yearly produce. How kind of Joseph ! Now, if the 
Bible be true concerning this matter, I ask, could anything 
be more unjust and cruel ? 



CHAPTER IV. 

FKOM THE BIRTH OF MOSES TO THE DEATH OF JOSHUA. 

This chapter will put beyond dispute all connection be- 
tween the Jehovah of Moses and the Sovereign Ruler of the 
Universe. Whoever drew the picture of Jehovah, as it is 
recorded in the Bible, made him, in every sense of the word, 
a mere man ; and put him under the same necessity of re- 
sorting to means for obtaining information, when the subject 
of inquiry is involved in doubt. For instance; Jehovah in- 



35 FROM THE BIRTH OF MOSES 

forms Abram that the inhabitants of Sodom and Gomorrah 
were reported to be wicked in the extreme ; and that he (the 
Lord) came down to get information on that subject. Again, 
when the builders of Babel were about to commence their 
lofty tower, the Lord came down to see what they were 
doing; and, not being pleased with their intentions, put a 
stop to the work, and performed a miracle, whereby they 
were driven abroad on the face of the earth. Besides, the 
Lord's coming from a certain place to another place for in- 
formation, implies that, without such movement, the infor- 
mation sought for could not be obtained. These instances, 
and hundreds of others of the same kind, imply also that 
the Jewish God had a local habitation. Again, to say that 
the Lord came to a place, staid there, and then returned 
back again, — these are movements which are common with 
men, but cannot be applied to the omnipresent God. The 
free access that Moses and the Old Testament prophets had 
to their God will warrant the idea that he resided next door 
to them, and that the Lord was obedient to their every call. 

The children of Israel, after the death of Joseph, began 
to multiply so fast that the Egyptians feared for their own 
safety in the event of a war with other nations ; and in con- 
sequence, ordered the mid wives to destroy all the male chil- 
dren, but to save the females alive. But Moses was saved, 
according to the Bible, in consequence of Pharaoh's daugh- 
ter discovering him in the river; and when he came to ma- 
turity, the Lord selected him to go to Egypt to demand of 
Pharaoh, the king, to let the Israelites go out from that 
state of bondage in which, for four hundred years, they had 
been held. 

The departure of Moses from Egypt was not very honor- 
able for a future ambassador; for before his departure he 
murdered a man, and buried him. To escape justice, he then 
fled to Midian, and became acquainted with a pagan priest, 
who took him into his house, and ultimately gave him one 
of his daughters in marriage, and he became his father- 
in-law's shepherd ; and the Lord made himself known to 
Moses. It was while tending the flocks that he was chosen 



TO THE DEATH OF JOSHUA. 37 

go to Egypt to demand the release of his brethren, then in 
cruel bondage. After the Lord had given him his instruc- 
tions, and, to all appearance, Moses had started on his mission, 
a remarkable circumstance took place, that must puzzle Bible 
commentators to explain. It is recorded in Exodus iv., 24, 
11 And it came to pass, by the way in the inn, that the Lord 
met him and sought to kill him." This meeting appears to 
have been accidental, for no mention is made of the business 
of either of them. Here, again, we observe that the writer, 
whoever he was, has spoken of the Lord as a man. It is 
not possible for men of sound understandings to conceive of 
the reality of the Lord's meeting Moses at an inn, if by the 
Lord, we understand the Almighty Power that governs all 
worlds. 

On the account as it stands recorded, and as Christians 
take it as really having happened, the following remarks 
may reasonably be made, namely: that after Moses had 
been ordered to proceed to Egypt on his important mission, 
he loitered his time away in a tavern ; and that the Lord 
surprised him in that place, and showed anger for his con- 
tempt of orders, given to and acccepted by him. But the 
cause of a meeting so extraordinary, it is difficult to unravel. 
It is easily conceived why Moses might visit a tavern ; but 
that the Lord of heaven and earth should follow a creature 
into a pot-house, and show signs of anger, and a quarrel 
should be the result, is very hard to believe ; for it said, the 
"Lord sought to kill him" Again, if the Lord sought to kill 
him, it must be in appearance only, for he could have done 
it. However, Moses started off. 

The account warrants us in supposing, that Moses had 
staid in the inn long enough for his wife to overtake him, 
and to upbraid him with neglect. Something is said about 
his son's being uncircumcised; and taking a sharp stone, 
she performed that operation with a very clumsy instru- 
ment; after which, she exclaimed, in an angry tone, "A 
bloody husband thou art, because of the circumcision ;" as if 
she meant to say — "Shame on you! to leave it to me to 
do that which is so revolting to my feelings ! " Moses then 
4 



38 FROM THE BIRTH OF MOSES 

departed for Egypt, and obeyed the Lord in his journey to 
his brethren. 

We can discover neither justice nor humanity in the course 
that was taken by the God of Israel, in bringing the Jews 
out of bondage. On the contrary, the greatest inhumanity 
and injustice are discoverable in every movement that Moses 
made under the authority of the Lord ; which fully proves, 
that Infinite Wisdom and Goodness had nothing to do in the 
mighty fuss of liberating the seed of Abram from bondage. 
The plagues that were inflicted on the inhabitants of Egypt, 
if true, make the conduct of Jehovah more vindictive than 
any thing we have heard of as proceeding from the Devil 
himself; for the Lord had told Moses beforehand, that he 
had hardened Pharaoh's heart, that the people might know 
the power of the Hebrew God to afflict the nation. It might 
be sport to the man-made God of Moses, but not very pleas- 
ing and comfortable to the Egyptians, to be lousy, to be stunk 
to death with putrid carcasses, having frogs for bed-mates, 
when the Lord had hardened the King's heart. 

But the worst and most infamous of all the judgments, 
was the destruction of the first-born. This act would have 
disgraced the very Devil ; and to institute the Feast of the 
Passover, to commemorate this splendid victory over help- 
less innocence, gives the lie to every thing of Divinity about 
this horrid concern. What must have been the feelings of 
the Egyptian mothers, if this was brought about by the 
Hebrew God 1 Would not they have been justified in say- 
ing — " A curse on you, ye dirty brutes ! we cared but little 
for your lice and frogs, but to have our infants killed in the 
unsuspicious moments of sleep, is,- to say the best of it, a 
proof that your God is a monster who delights in cruelty," 
Ye Jews ! what a glorious feast is your Passover ! what a 
noble victory does it commemorate ! But as such an infant 
auto-da-fe never took place by Divine authority, we may 
indulge in a little mirth in reference to the destroying angel 
going round the streets, finding out the doors marked with 
the blood of your paschal lamb, and taking care not to wring 
the neck of a little Hebrew. Wonder if the destroying angel 



TO THE DEATH OF JOSHUA. 39 

had a lantern? But, perhaps, he had cat's eyes, and could 
see as well by night as at noon-day ! No wonder, ye Jews, 
that the inhabitants of Egypt so willingly gave you their 
gold and silver ornaments to get rid of a people so detesta- 
ble, and, with them, a more detestable God. 

In a short time after the Jews had left the house of bond- 
age, they began to upbraid Moses that they had changed for 
the worse ; and in the course of their journeying, they quar- 
relled with him, and the Lord had continually to interfere, 
and to feed them by miracles. At Mount Sinai, Moses halt- 
ed; and, according to the command of the Lord, the law 
was given to the nation, as recorded in Exodus, chapter xx. 
And this boasted law is said to have been given by the 
Lord, in the hearing of all the Children of Israel. The 
first commandment contains a spirit of intolerance, which, 
whether he gave it or not, has never failed to> generate in 
Jews and Christians a spirit of religious persecution which 
has deluged the earth with blood. 

The ten commandments, given by Moses to the Children 
of Israel, contain, in general, good moral precepts, with the 
exception of the first. The first begins by the Lord's speak- 
ing in a language which all the people could understand : — 
li I am the Lord thy God, which have brought thee out of the 
land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. Thou shall 
have no other Gods before me." This command, which by 
both Jews and Christians is considered so just and reasona- 
ble, contains in it the germ of intolerance. Had this com- 
mand been given immediately after the recorded fall of 
Adam, its influence would have had a very different bearing 
on the peace and happiness of society, than it had at the 
time, and has had ever since it was given. It would have 
been both just and right in the Lord of all to demand of his 
creatures to worship him, and him alone, in the way and 
manner he saw fit ; since in that case, no evil consequences 
could have followed from a command so just and proper, as 
for the creature to obey his Creator. 

But at the time the Lord gave the first commandment, the 
whole world were in the practice of worshipping the gods of 



4q FROM THE BIRTH OF MOSES 

their forefathers: the origin of which worship was then lost, 
and the worshippers were no doubt as sincere in their devo- 
tion as the most pious Jew or Christian of the present day. 
By the publication, then, of the first commandment, at a time 
when every nation had its particular god, and the worship- 
pers lived in peace, the spirit of intolerance and religious per- 
secution being unknown, the great / am declared a religious 
war against all the gods, and their worshippers on the face 
of the earth. But according to Bible history, Jehovah per- 
mitted his creatures to wander on earth, and appeared re- 
gardless as to what gods were worshipped ; and then, after 
some thousand years, he all at once began to rage against 
all the religious systems then known. 

But it was otherwise with what are called heathen na- 
tions. Each had its peculiar god, and also its different 
forms of worship ; and they lived happily with each other 
on the score of theology. And here we may observe, how 
unfortunate it has been for the human race, that the Lord 
did not either give his law sooner, or not at all ; for it is 
plainly to be seen, that if the first commandment had been 
given by the Lord before men had followed other gods, idola- 
try would have been prevented, and Jehovah's watchfulness 
over the worship he had established, would have been pro- 
ductive of universal happiness. But, on the contrary, the 
command being given so long after, and that, too, when re- 
ligious systems were flourishing, and temples crowded with 
devout worshippers, the worst consequences have followed. 

The worshippers of Jehovah, whether Jews or Christians, 
have, by the Bible itself, become intolerant and persecuting ; 
and never have they failed, when power would admit, to 
destroy the enemies of their God without mercy : so that 
the first commandment, by coming too late, has proved the 
greatest curse that ever afflicted the human family. And 
hence the folly in believing that Infinite Wisdom and Good- 
ness would permit false religion to progress so long before 
the true one was made known to the human race. After 
the moral law, or the ten commandments, had been given 
by the Jewish God. on the mount, amid thunder and light- 



TO THE DEATH OF JOSHUA. 4J 

ning, we have it recorded that Moses was ordered to go up 
to the top of the mount, and there, with the Lord, he staid 
forty days and nights ; during which time Aaron, his brother; 
remained with the whole of the Children of Israel in camp, 
at the foot of Mount Sinai. 

And now, candid reader, prepare your mind for an ac- 
count of what took place on the mount, between Jehovah 
and Moses ; and when you have read it, and maturely re- 
flected on what is recorded, then I say, ask yourself whether 
there is one word of truth in the account of this strange in- 
terview between Moses and his God? Compare it with any 
of the absurdities to be found in the Koran of Mahomet, 
and discover, if you can, whether the latter is less true than 
the former. 

The Bible record states, that Moses was ordered to ascend 
the mount, on private business with the Lord, and to leave 
Aaron in charge of his chosen people till his return. The 
account clearly states, that Moses was then and there to 
receive instruction how to fit up and ornament the Taber- 
nacle that was to accompany the Children of Israel in their 
journey to the promised land. And here we may notice, 
" That in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, and all 
things therein" ; yet it required forty days to plan and fit 
up this moveable church; and before it was finished, the 
chosen people, with Aaron at their head, became idolators ; 
so that before the Lord and Moses (both hard at work) had 
completed the church, they lost the congregation. This, to 
make the best of it, was a dreadful blunder. 

After the forty days had run out, during which time Moses 
and his God were hard at work, and Moses had often re- 
ceived the precaution, " See that you make all things accord- 
ing to the pattern given on the mount" — all at once, the 
Lord said to Moses, "Do you know what is going on below?" 
Poor Moses, full of thought, and over-joyed at the prospect 
of so fine a fit-out, was altogether ignorant of the Lord's 
meaning. "Why, Moses, that stubborn race you brought 
out of Egypt, have set up strange gods, and have turned 
their backs on both you and me" ! If this story was strictly 
4* 



42 FROM THE BIRTH OF MOSES 

true, how Moses must feel on hearing this unfortunate news ! 
We must suppose he would exclaim and say, "Oh! Lord, 
our forty days' labor is all knocked on the head. Is it pos* 
sible, Oh ! Lord, that they have forgotten what you did for 
them in Egypt? What a pity it is, Oh! Lord, that they 
ever got rid of the lice when they left the house of bondage, 
for if they were now tormented by those nibblers, it would 
remind them of the lousy miracle you performed for them 
in the presence of Pharaoh. Those lice, if not destroyed, 
would have been ' a forget-me-not.' " And the Lord said 
unto Moses, " Now let me alone, that my wrath may wax 
hot against this people, for I know that they are a stiff- 
necked race. I will destroy them, and from you shall a 
great nation spring up." But Moses, not having at this 
time lost his temper, said, "Oh ! Lord God, now do not de- 
stroy them ; besides, what will the Egyptians say ? And 
also remember what you promised to Abram, Isaac, and 
Jacob : how you swore that you would give it to Abram and 
his seed forever." "Well, Moses, you reason correctly. I 
own I was rather too hasty ; upon a second thought, I re- 
tract ; I will take your advice ; but go down and see what 
you can make of them." 

Moses, not well pleased, left the Lord, and went down from 
the mount ; and when he came to the camp, he lost all pa- 
tience, and, in a passion, not knowing what he did, threw 
down the stones on which were written the command- 
ments — and written, too, with the finger of God — and they 
were broken asunder. No wonder that Moses lost his tem- 
per: forty days' labor lost; having had, during the whole 
time, nothing to eat ; and having lost his church members 
before the moveable church was completed ! No one can be 
surprised that he acted as he did. Moses reasoned so cor- 
rectly with the Lord, that he cooled Jehovah down, but was 
not so fortunate with himself. 

Aaron, finding himself in a dilemma, excused himself by 
charging the people with the fault. But Aaron's story was 
but a lame tale ; for, when the people demanded a god, to 
whom they might pay divine honors, Aaron could have told 



TO THE DEATH OF JOSHUA. 43 

them to have patience, and Moses would return with proper 
instructions from their God. But poor, silly Aaron told 
Moses, that when he threw the rings and bracelets into the 
fire, out came the calf. At any rate, between the Lord, 
Moses, and Aaron, a sad blunder was made ; and to finish 
off, Moses commanded the Levites to go sword in hand and 
kill every man his brother and neighbor; and three thousand 
were slain, who, if things had been conducted properly, 
might have been faithful worshippers of Jehovah. Finally, 
nothing can exceed in folly this foolish story of Jehovah, 
Moses, and Aaron, except it be the folly of believing it to 
contain one word of truth. 

After Moses had slain the people for their idolatry, not 
having been reproved by the Lord, he was commanded to 
prepare two tables of stone, in place of those that were 
broken, and the next morning to go up again to the Lord, 
on the mount. It is then said that the Lord descended on 
the mount to meet Moses ; so it appears that the Lord (after 
the departure of Moses to the bottom of the mount) departed 
also, into heaven or to some unknown place; for it is re- 
corded that he came down again to meet Moses with the 
two new tables prepared by him. The whole account of 
the Lord's interview with Moses, on the mount, implies that 
Jehovah labored, talked, and acted in concert with Moses, 
as one man acts with another ; and that they remained to- 
gether forty days and as many nights. Whether they con- 
tinued their work through the night, we have no account ; 
nor whether they needed candles. At all events, if it be 
considered literally as a matter of fact, it was a long time 
for Moses to be without food or sleep ; but as Christians are 
compelled to believe it to be matter of fact, we will remark 
on it as such. 

We begin, then, by asking if the Children of Israel were 
indeed the Lord's chosen people, how can we account for the 
neglect in not giving Aaron proper instruction respecting 
the business of Moses on the mount, so as to prevent the 
people from seeking after other gods ? And, also, how came 
it to pass that the Lord did not inform Moses sooner of the 



44 FROM THE BIKTH OF MOSES 

people's revolt, so that the three thousand that Moses caused 
to be murdered; might have been saved 1 And lastly, is it 
consistent with the attributes of the Governor of the Uni- 
verse to resolve, in wrath, to do any thing, and then re- 
pent and not perform it ? 

If nothing had been recorded in the Old Testament of the 
sayings and doings of the Jewish God, but that which is re- 
lated concerning him in giving the law on Mount Sinai, and 
of his giving instruction to Moses how to fit out the Taber- 
nacle, it is of itself sufficient to show the absurdity of Jeho- 
vah's being the God of Nature. To unite in one person the 
attributes of the great and all-powerful God, with the con- 
temptible arrangement of giving patterns for curtains, and a 
thousand trifling things of no importance whatever, and to 
take forty days to garnish his church, and, while so doing, 
to let, from sheer neglect, his people lose sight of Moses, and 
then to destroy three thousand persons in consequence of 
such want of foresight, is too much for credulity to digest. 

When we notice the importance attached to rites and cere- 
monies the most unimportant, and then again how lavish the 
Jewish God is of human life, and totally regardless of hu- 
man suffering, we dare not for a moment give credence to 
the strange stories and foolish whims of the Bible God, and 
palm them upon the all-bountiful Author of Nature. Moses, 
after coming down the last time from the mount, begins to 
prepare for the priesthood, by saying, that the firstlings of 
cattle, whether of the ox, or the sheep which are of the male 
kind, belong to the Lord; but the firstling of the ass was to 
be redeemed by substituting a lamb ! But if the owner had 
no lamb to offer, the neck of the ass was to be broken; as if 
the Lord had said— if you have nothing better to give, I 
will not accept of a young jack-ass ! 

Whoever wrote the Book of Exodus, has made the God 
of Israel appear like unto an old clothes-man, giving orders 
for a thousand ornaments for his worship, which would 
disgrace a heathen temple; such as giving orders for all 
kinds of brass work; likewise, gold and silver ornaments; 
all kinds of oils and spices • particular patterns of cabinet 



TO THE DEATH OF JOSHUA. 45 

work ; what kind of leather skins, and, also, of what par- 
ticular color, to grace his house withal : and even down to 
the cut and color of the garments : not forgetting to give in- 
struction concerning the making of breeches for Aaron and 
his sons ! In the present day, it is no uncommon thing for 
ladies to wear the breeches; but in those days, when breeches 
were cut by inspiration, it would have been no small crime 
for a woman to have stepped into Aaron's inexpressibles, or 
those of his sons. How is the dignity of the Governor of 
the World disgraced, by ascribing to him an employment 
fitting only for a pedler in old clothes ! 

Let us compare the majestic grandeur of Jupiter, the su- 
preme god of the Greeks, to the peddling, gossipping con- 
cerns that the writers of the Old Testament have palmed on 
Jehovah, the God of the Jews! Hear what the poet says 
of Jupiter, when challenging all the gods to oppose his 
power : — 

u Let down our golden, everlasting chain, 

Whose strong embrace holds heaven and earth and main ; 

Strive all, of mortal or immortal birth, 

By this to drag the thunderer down to earth; 

Ye strive in vain ; if I but lift this hand, 

I heave the heaven, the ocean, and the land ; 

'T is thus I reign, supremely and above ; 

Such are men and gods compar'd to Jove ! " 

The contradictions, as recorded in the Bible, concerning 
Jehovah, are so barefaced, that it is impossible to reconcile 
them. It is said in many parts of the Old, and also in the 
New Testament, that no man can see God and live ; but we 
are told that Moses conversed with Jehovah, face to face, as 
one conversing with his friend. It is in many places re- 
corded that God never repents — " For he {God) cannot lie 
nor repent." In many other places it is recorded that Jeho- 
vah has repented and taken a contrary course in his deal- 
ings with the sons of men. I again repeat, that if no other 
account had been recorded of the conduct of the Jewish 
God, but what we have mentioned, it is impossible to be- 
lieve Jehovah to be any thing but a man-made God. 

After the death of Moses, Joshua was appointed as his 



45 FROM THE BIRTH OF MOSES 

successor. His business was to complete what Moses had 
left undone, in subjugating or destroying the nations on the 
other side of Jordan. The first exploit of Joshua was to 
send spies to Jericho to examine the strength of the city. 
These spies entered the house of Rahab, the harlot, where 
they were treated with kindness ; it being such a house as 
would in modern times be termed a house of bad fame. 
That it was a house of ill-fame, the proof is positive ; be- 
cause the harlot's father, mother, and all the family, were 
saved when Joshua took the city, because Rahab had con- 
cealed the spies : so no doubt remains as to the character of 
the house, and that it was entirely under her control, and 
that the whole family were supported from the wages of 
prostitution. 

Viewing this account as having actually taken place, as 
Christians must do, as believers in the Bible, it was a very 
proper house at which the spies would resort ; for it was a 
house at which all were welcome ; where all sorts of news 
could be coljected. After the spies had become somewhat 
familiar with Mrs. Rahab, they informed her who they 
were, and the nature of their errand. All on a sudden, 
they were about to be arrested by the city authorities ; and 
when forced to depart, Rahab extorted a promise from the 
spies that her whole family should be saved when Jericho 
should fall. Such a promise, the spies could not well deny, 
after having been so kindly treated. Rahab, consequently, 
let them out by a private way; and, on returning to Joshua, 
they praised the Lord for having directed them to so hospita- 
ble and honorable a mansion as the house of the virtuous 
Rahab. This was the Lord's doings, as also the exploit of 
the seven rams'-horn trumpets that threw down the walls of 
Jericho; and it is marvellous in our eyes — praised be his 



name 



Here, serious reader, pause and wonder how Infinite Wis- 
dom can bring good out of apparent evil, by taking into his 
employment murderers, thieves, and harlots ! and also, how 
such characters have immortalized their names, when their 
actions have been connected with faith in the Jehovah of 



TO THE DEATH OF JOSHUA. 47 

Israel ! For this noble act of betraying the city of Jericho, 
and giving the spies comfortable lodging, and no doubt, also, 
very agreeable bed-mates, Rahab secured the favor of Jeho- 
vah, and her name is recorded in connection with many 
others of equal virtue; for Paul says, in Hebrews xi., 31, — 
u By faith j the harlot Rahab perished not with them that be- 
lieved not, when she had received the spies in peace.' 1 '' Nothing 
is acceptable to the Lord, without faith, — that faith "which 
keeps the souls of sinners as sweet as salt does meat" 

After the taking of Jericho and destroying every thing that 
had life, (the family of Rahab excepted,) Joshua followed in 
the same destructive course as had been commanded by 
Moses, which command Jehovah gave on the other side 
of Jordan. If the warfare pursued by Moses and Joshua 
did really take place, and Jehovah gave the orders, it is 
idle prate to talk of a God of justice. And when the Lord 
is made to say that he {the Lord) hardened the hearts of 
those Kings on either side of Jordan, that a plausible ap- 
pearance of justice in their destruction might be made out, — 
for Christians to sing of a God of mercy, is horrible indeed. 
Whether a God ever commanded or encouraged the Jews in 
their wars of extermination, under Moses, Joshua, or any 
other of their generals, or not, Christian nations, as well as 
individuals, have drank deep of the spirit of religious war- 
fare. A Lord of hosts, a fighting God, has given a sort of 
license to mortals to torment each other for his glory. 

Every Infidel ought to oppose this spirit, and vindicate 
the Author of Nature from the imputation of cruelty and 
carnage — an imputation that is opposed to every idea of 
justice, and contrary to every thing we can conceive of the 
Supreme Ruler of all worlds. And hence, nothing can be 
more honorable to a man or woman of good sense and kind- 
ness of heart, than to assert that the God of the Bible is 
Unworthy to be worshipped as the Governor of the Universe; 
which in fact is to say, that to all pretended divine revela- 
tions, they are no less than avowed Infidels — a name that 
will eventually be as honorable as is now the name of 
Christian. 



48 F R °M THE BIRTH OF MOSES 

According to Bible history, the nations on the other side 
of Jordan were so alarmed at the frightful news they re- 
ceived of the Jewish army, and the ravages they committed, 
that five Kings, with their armies, came out to stop their 
progress ; and in this account, we have the climax of divine 
interference on the part of Jehovah. After a desperate effort 
was made by the five Kings to stop the progress of Joshua, 
and after fighting the whole day, until towards the going 
down of the su?i, they retreated. At that moment Jehovah is 
said to have given support to his chosen people, by causing 
a hail-storm to descend, and more were slain by the hail than 
fell by the sword. But when the hail was exhausted, some- 
thing more was requisite to be done ; Divine aid was still 
wanting. Then Joshua, in sight of his army, said, "Sun, 
stand thou still upon Gibeon, and thou> moon, in the valley of 
Ajalon" and they obeyed his command. So that, according 
to this miracle, the hostile armies were completely destroyed, 
and the sun and moon (we suppose) were ordered to pursue 
their courses. 

And now, reader, to believe this improbable, or rather im- 
possible tale, and hundreds of others of the same sort, even 
in our day, will make a man respectable, and fit to fill any 
office where intelligence and honesty are required. But to 
doubt it, and publicly express the doubt, will cause him to 
be considered infamous, and unfit for " public trust or pri- 
vate care." And this will be the case until men shall be 
bold enough to express their honest convictions that it is a 
libel to charge the Sovereign Ruler of the Universe with 
being the direct, or the indirect, author of the Bible, or hav- 
ing ever chosen the Jews to be his peculiar people. 

But to return to Joshua, who appears to be more highly 
favored with miracles than Moses, as the miracle of the sun 
and moon standing still, to give time to Joshua to complete 
his victory over the Kings that came against him, exceeds 
every thing of the kind on record. The writer, whoever he 
was, that mentions the sun and moon standing still in the 
heavens, evidently knew nothing of astronomy ; for admit- 
ting the truth of the story, and that the sun and moon ap- 



TO THE DEATH OF JOSHUA. 4Q 

peared to stand fixed in the heavens, it was in reality the 
earth that instantly obeyed the command of Joshua. And 
another miracle must have followed immediately, to prevent 
the dreadful consequences of the earth's ceasing from turn- 
ing round on its axis : for we have but to consider the effects 
of the earth's instantly ceasing to turn round; the shock 
would have been so great that trees and houses and the 
armies "would have been thrown high in the air, and the 
battle would have immediately ended, the combatants being 
destroyed. But the tale is too foolish to be credited ; and it 
furnishes another proof that the Jehovah of the Jews is not 
the Author of Nature. In this battle, Balaam, the sooth-' 
sayer, was slain ; and before finishing this chapter, we will 
give the account as recorded, with some remarks on that 
celebrated fortune-teller. 

When the Children of Israel had left Egypt, and were 
marching to the land of promise, they had to go through 
different kingdoms and provinces ; and their numbers, con- 
nected with the depredations they committed in the name of 
Jehovah, caused the inhabitants of those regions to be greatly 
alarmed ; and understanding that their God fought for them, 
and that they were about to pass through the land of Moab, 
Balak, King of Moab. having learned what had been done 
by them to the Amorites, sent to Balaam to consult with him, 
intending, if possible, to stop their progress, or at least, to find 
out what the Jewish God had destined his people to perform. 

In the Book of Numbers, chapter xxii., the account com- 
mences. Balaam, it appears, was then what now would be 
called a celebrated conjuror, or, as country people say, a cun- 
ning man, by which he made a living, and a good one, too; 
for, from the Bible story, he appears to be a man well known 
by princes, and was attended by two servants as out-riders. 
Like our present lawyers, he never gave his services until 
he had received a handsome fee ; for the King sent off the 
elders to Balaam, with the rewards of " divination in their 
handP Balaam received them, and invited them to stay 
with him till the next day, for, (as he told them,) he would 
first inquire of the Lord. 
5 



5() FROM THE BIRTH OF MOSES 

It is then recorded, that " God came unto Balaam,, and 
said, what men are those ivith thee?" This inquiry of the 
Jewish God appears strange, when he must have known all 
about it without asking ; but here, as in hundreds of other 
passages, the man-made God appears. But, for the infor- 
mation of the Lord, Balaam gives a suitable answer. The 
Lord then informs the fortune-teller that he must not go to 
Balak, nor curse them, for they are blessed. The elders then 
returned to the King, to inform him that Balaam could not 
come, because the God of Israel had forbid him so to do. 
Again, Balak sent others, more honorable than the first, 
with promises of riches and honor. The Lord came again 
to Balaam, and told him to go with the men to Balak, King 
of the Moabites, but to mind what the Lord had said to him. 
Balaam went off with the princes of Moab ; but the Devil, 
or something else, got into the jack-ass on which the old 
fortune-teller rode, and he became skittish; and although 
then dumb, he seemed to say to his master, "I shall go no 
further." Balaam became enraged, and laid some heavy 
stripes on poor jack ; but still the animal refused to go on, 
until neither the Lord nor jack could bear it any longer. 
The beast then broke silence, and reasoned with the old 
prophet on his brutality. All of a sudden, Balaam saw an 
angel with a drawn sword in his hand, who told him if it 
had not been for jack's superior eye-sight, he would have 
been a dead man. The angel then told Balaam to go on. 
but to mind what he did against Israel. What contemptible 
humbug is all this ! two miracles performed to do nothing ! 
The first, to send an angel down from nobody knows where; 
and the second, to make a dumb ass reprove his owner. And 
what was Balaam's fault? He was going on as the Lord 
commanded ; and to complete this solemn farce, an apostle 
quotes it as a real fact that actually took place, by saying — 
"And the dumb ass spake 'with man's voice, and forbade the 
madness of the prophet [ ." 

After returning to Balak, Balaam ordered seven altars to 
be built, on which were to be offered seven bullocks and 
seven rams : and again, the Lord came to see the process, 



TO THE DEATH OF JOSHUA, 5 J 

and m private conversation with the fortune-teller, told him 
that it would not answer ; Israel must not be cursed. This 
was repeated by Balaam three times ; so that twenty-one 
bullocks, and as many rams, were offered up to no purpose : 
and at each offering, the Lord came down and conversed in 
private with Balaam. Is it possible that men possessed of 
reason can believe that in this account there is one word of 
truth, as it respects the Governor of the Universe having 
any thing to do with it ? If this account, or any one like it, 
was recorded in any other book than the Bible, no man of a 
sound mind would give the least credit to it. But yet the 
Christian dares not doubt it ; for even the apostles of Jesus 
speak of it as a real fact that took place with the miracles 
attending it. 

To conclude this chapter of absurdities, we beg the reader 
to bear in mind — first, that Balaam was not a prophet of 
Jehovah, but a conjuror ; and if he professed any religion, 
it was that of heathenism. But he (Balaam) had heard of 
the manner of sacrificing to the Jewish God, and accordingly 
began by slaying seven bullocks and an equal number of 
rams ; and while the altars were smoking, (if the Bible be 
true,) the Lord of the whole earth left his throne, and came 
down to see what was going on. The old fortune-teller was 
hard at work, and the princes of Moab standing by to hear 
the result; when lo, and behold! the Lord descends, and we 
may suppose him to say — " Balaam ! why, you are cooking 
for a large party ! Come, Balaam, before you go any further, 
a word with you, if you please. Come this way. What does 
all this mean ? We must have some private talk about this 
affair." " Why, my Lord, you know my business. I must 
do all I can for my employers ; I thought that if sacrifice is 
made, agreeably to your order of worship, you might be 
induced to alter your mind towards your people: for we 
have heard that at times, when the fit comes on, you give 
them a severe thrashing." " Yes, Balaam, there is some 
truth in the report ; but I tell you, once for all, that if you 
offer all the bullocks in the world, and all the rams beside, 
you cannot, must not, curse Israel." 



22 FROM THE DEATH OF JOSHUA 

No lawyer ever stuck closer to a rich client than did Ba- 
laam to the King of Moab ; for again and again did he sac- 
rifice to the Lord of Hosts. Another trial, on a mountain, 
was made, and again Jehovah descends and tells Balaam 
the same as before. The third and last effort being made, 
which would incline us to think that the patience of Heaven 
must have been tired out, was enough to make the door- 
keeper exclaim, " Here is Monsieur Tonson come again ! " 
The last descent is made by the Lord, and the prophet gives 
in, reluctantly. I challenge any minister of the gospel to 
produce a more absurd story, in any system of theology, 
than the account of Balaam, his ass, and the Lord of Hosts. 
I will not insult the reader by saying, do not believe it; but 
rather say, believe it vjJio can I 



CHAPTER V. 

FROM THE DEATH OF JOSHUA TO THE REIGN OF SAUL. 

We now come to the time when the Israelites were settled 
in the land of Canaan, Moses and Joshua being dead. This 
period of Bible history, from the death of Joshua to the time 
of Saul, their first King, is about four hundred years. And, 
seeing the miracles and wonders performed in behalf of God's 
chosen people, in the times of Moses and Joshua, we might 
reasonably expect that the same care would be continued to- 
wards them in succeeding generations. But, on the contrary, 
during the time the different Judges presided over them, noth- 
ing but disasters and confusion prevailed ; and if their his- 
tory is to be credited, it must appear as if Jehovah had 
nearly given them up as a prey to his and their enemies. 

Notwithstanding all that has been said and written about 
Moses being the author of the first five Books, including the 



TO THE REIGN OF SAUL, 53 

Jewish worship, with the laws, ceremonial and moral, it 
does not appear that the contents of those Books were known 
and obeyed by the generations that followed after his death ; 
for it is recorded in the Book of Judges, ii., 10, that after the 
death of Joshua, " there arose another generation after them, 
which kneio not the Lord, nor yet the works tohich he had 
done for Israel." If the mighty works had been done in 
behalf of God's chosen people, which are recorded, it is im- 
possible to believe that they should have been forgotten or 
disregarded. Can we suppose, that, in a few years, the 
Declaration of our Independence on the 4th of July, 1776, 
together with the name of Washington, and the heroism of 
his brave companions in arms, can be forgotten 1 No ; it is 
impossible. It is then clear, that the Books said to have 
been written by Moses were not known ; or if known, they 
were not believed in by the people. 

After the land of promise had been divided among the 
tribes of Israel, instead of Jehovah's setting up some perma- 
nent form of government, and causing his name to be adored, 
so as to make his chosen people happy and prosperous, they 
were, to all appearance, left in the most confused and unset- 
tled state: and hence it is often said, " In those days there 
was no King in Israel, and every man did that which v;as 
right in his own eyes." It is not too much to infer, that for 
hundreds of years after the death of Moses and Joshua, the 
Jewish God, as if he had forgotten his engagements with 
Abram, Isaac, and Jacob, concerning their posterity, be- 
came indifferent to their happiness altogether. 

We will now refer to their situation. As it respects gov- 
ernment, they had none ; it was accidental ; and, although 
it is recorded that their God fought for them, and caused 
both sun and moon (as the phrase is) to stand still, to give 
them time to destroy their enemies, Jehovah's conduct was 
so altered that he seemed to enjoy the troubles of his once 
chosen people. With all these facts, Christian ministers 
prate of an unchangeable God! We read of Jehovah's stir- 
ring up heathen Kings against his people ; and to such a 
deplorable state were they reduced, that an old woman was 
5* 



5^ FROM THE DEATH CF JOSHUA 

their Chief- Justice, and also General of their army. At 
that time, to say the least of it. no nation under heaven was 
in so degraded a state. At times, upstart Judges arose ; the 
Lord was with them ; and, for a while, all things appeared 
prosperous. At their death, however, the troubles were re- 
newed. Such was their situation at one time, that they had 
no weapons of war, nor smiths to repair their ploughs or 
harrows. Then they cried unto the Lord, and he sanctioned 
them in every dishonorable way to out- wit or murder their 
oppressors. 

In such a state of subjugation were the tribes to their foes 
when Saul was made King, that only two swords could be 
found in Israel; and the " Israelites icent down to the Philis- 
tines to sharpen every man his share and his coidter, and his 
axe and his mattock." What folly, then, to suppose, that 
after all that had been done for God's favorite people, they 
should have been so neglected, and there should be nothing 
but slaughter and blood throughout the land of promise ! 
What madness, to believe that the Author of the Universe 
should permit such carnage, and his whole attention seem to 
be directed to the foolish quarrels of an unfortunate race, 
who, by some imposture, had been taught to consider their 
nation as his peculiar choice ! 

And as to their religion, by what is recorded, it seems that 
their proneness to worship the gods of their neighbors, is 
what brought on the chastisements of Heaven. This is but 
a poor excuse, and dishonorable to the God of the Universe, 
to urge on nations to make war on his people, because he 
was displeased with them for worshipping strange gods. It 
appears strange, passing strange, that Jehovah could not 
convert his own people. But only substitute the term Priest, 
instead of the Lord, and reject altogether the idea of God's 
having any thing to do with their theology, and the matter 
is plain and clear. Admitting, however, that the Lord of 
Hosts had so rebellious a race, and was a spectator of all 
their departures from his laws, he must be as great a suf- 
ferer as the Jews, because he was forever punishing ; for, if 
anger is to a God a punishment equal to what human beings 



TO THE BEIGN OF SAUL. 55 

feel under its influence, then it follows that the God of the 
Jews is the greatest sufferer. Oh ! ye ministers of grace ' 
you have preached up an angry God until you have brutal- 
ized the human race; and your intolerant spirit has ever 
been, and will ever continue to be, a burning coal taken 
from the altar of an angry, vengeful God, to be rekindled 
when power is united to your impositions. 

That the reader may form correct ideas of the Lord's 
fighting for Israel, and delivering their enemies into their 
hands, and also of the Lord's giving the land or towns to 
his favorite people that they had taken in war, it should be 
observed, that it was the manner of expressing the results 
of a victory among the Jews, and also with other nations. 
They all claimed for themselves the interference of their re- 
spective gods, and to them they gave sacrifice and thanks. 
As a key, to understand how God fought for his favorite 
people, it is recorded in Judges i., 19, " And the Lord teas 
with Judahj and he drove out the inhabitants of the moun- 
tain, but could not drive out the inhabitants of the valley be- 
cause they had chariots of iron.'''' The same idea is to be 
carried out in explaining such passages as the following : — 
"And the angel of the Lord appeared to [such an one] in a 
dream" — " Thus saith the Lord" fyc. 

Now, all that can be made of this is, that the person men- 
tioned, dreamed that he saw an angel, and that he said this 
or that. Again, it is often repeated, that the word of the Lord 
came unto Moses, saying. Common sense will inquire, how 
came the word? who brought it? Words do not pass through 
the air like birds. Suppose it should be reported, that the 
word of the President of the United States came to some 
person in New York, saying, do this or that, or something 
uncommon and unheard of, and the inquiry be made, ioho 
brought this word, and an answer should be required ? No 
reasonable one could be given. It must fill the Christian 
reader with astonishment to find, that during the time the 
Judges presided over Israel, (some hundreds of years.) that 
neither the name of Moses nor his laws are ever mentioned, 
On the contrary, his laws, both moral and ceremonial, were 



g5 Weft THE DEATH OF JOSHUA 

either suspended or departed from. Neither the Sabbath nor 
the Passover was observed, and the moral law said to have 
been given by Jehovah, from Mount Sinai, was broken by 
the worship of graven images. 

If we turn to Judges, chapter xvii., we there find, that 
after the death of Samson, who judged Israel twenty years, 
a young man (a Jew) stole from his mother eleven hundred 
shekels of silver, which she had put by to make a god for 
herself and her sorts household, — a worship contrary to the 
express command of Jehovah, as given in the second com- 
mandment ; and when her son heard his mother curse most 
bitterly, he returned it to her. She then loaded him with 
blessings, and with a part of the silver, and gave the rest to 
the founder, or artist, and a graven image was made and 
erected as their god, and a priest hired to perform worship. 
In the 13th verse of the same chapter, her son exults, and 
says, " Now know I that the Lord will do me good, seeing I 
have a Levite to my priest" 

To conclude this account of worship, the Levite asked 
counsel of God, (the image,) and received a gracious an- 
swer. This image-worship was the religion of the Danites 
until they were carried away captive. This, then, is proof 
positive, that the five Books said to have been given by 
Moses, were then unknown; and without this admission, it is 
not possible to account for the silence regarding Moses and 
his writings for so many hundred years. Not only were the 
five Books of which Moses is the reputed author, written 
many hundreds of years after his death, but also the Book 
of Judges could not have been written till after Kings had 
reigned in Israel ; because, it is often repeated in that Book, 
" And there was no King in Israel, and every man did that 
which was right in his own eyes " ; for until the end of the 
Judges, no King was ever mentioned, or thought of, among 
the tribes. It was in consequence of the injustice of the 
sons of Samuel, that the seed of Abram demanded a King, 
in order to get just judgment ; and in his person to secure a 
leader in time of war. 

The foolish story of Samson, which commences in Judges, 



TO THE REIGN OF SAUL. tff 

chapter xiii., deserves no notice, but for its being ascribed to 
Jehovah, the God of Israel. The whole silly account, when 
it is fathered on the God of the Universe, will not fail to con- 
vince every man of a sane mind, how human beings have 
been imposed upon, in ascribing to the Sovereign Ruler of all 
worlds such contemptible trash. After the Israelites had for 
forty years been subjected to the Philistines, Jehovah deter- 
mined to deliver his chosen people from bondage, by raising 
up a man (then unborn) to war against their enemies. 
Samson was the person chosen for this business. The story 
is as follows: — 

The mother of Samson had for years lived with her hus- 
band, Manoah, but remained childless. Her sorrow, on that 
account, so prevailed with the Lord, that an angel came 
down from Jehovah, whom Christians believe to be the all- 
wise Governor of the Universe, and informed her that she 
should have a son that would war against the oppressors of 
Israel, and that particular care on her part must be taken 
during her pregnancy. She was to drink no wine, nor 
strong drink, nor eat any thing unclean ; and no hair must 
on any account be taken from his head. The woman told 
her husband the good tidings, and he was over-joyed, and 
prayed to the Lord that the angel would again descend. 
This request was granted, and the angel repeated to the 
husband what had been told to his wife. When these in- 
structions, given by the angel, were ended, out of gratitude 
to the heavenly messenger, this joyful pair proposed to dress 
a kid, and invited the angel to partake of it. This request 
was not complied with, but Manoah and his wife were told 
to sacrifice to the Lord ; which they did, and as the flame 
ascended, the angel went up with it, after refusing to make 
known his name. 

In a few months, Samson was born ; and his parents were 
particular in observing all things commanded, as it respected 
the child, until his arrival to manhood ; when, behold ! this 
Samson, the gift of the Lord, who was to deliver his coun- 
trymen out of bondage, from the galling yoke of the Philis- 
tines — this Samson commenced his life by going down to 



58 FROM THE DEATH OF JOSHUA 

the Philistines, and taking up with different women. Some 
he took as wives, and with others he carried on any thing but 
a respectable intercourse ; and in all his actions he sought a 
quarrel with the enemies of Israel. All unknown to his pa- 
rents, it is recorded that he possessed strength superior to 
human beings, and that this strength resided in the hair of 
his head. His enemies discovered this strength, and bribed 
his wives and concubines to discover how he could be bound, 
so that they could destroy him. After lying, and submitting 
to be bound, he betrayed the secret to one of his favorite 
women. His head was shaved, his eyes put out, and he 
was cast into prison. 

In the course of his revels among his ladies, he was war- 
ing continually with his wives' countrymen ; and such was 
his dexterity, that he caught three hundred foxes and tied 
them tail to tail, and turned them into the standing corn and 
burnt up their harvest. At another time, when pursued by 
his enemies, it is recorded that he slew a thousand men with 
the jaw-bone of an ass; and so mighty was his strength, 
that the gates of a city were by him carried away with ease, 
and placed on the top of a mountain; and so terrific was his 
strength, that his favorite woman, by bribery, at last found 
out that his almost almighty power was in his hair, which 
had been from his birth untouched and unshorn; but as soon 
as his hair was taken off, Jehovah withdrew his strength, 
and his foes bound him with care, put out his eyes, and cast 
him into prison. At length, his hair grew again on his head, 
and his mighty strength returned. He then prayed to Jeho- 
vah to enable him to lift up the mighty building in which 
the Lords of the Philistines were; and having succeeded, 
down it came with a dreadful crash, and Samson, with all 
that were within, perished in the ruins. 

Now, this is the man who is recorded to have been raised 
up to restore to the seed of Abram their lost power ; whose 
whole life was a scene of folly and madness. Can any man, 
in the full exercise of his reason, believe that the Ruler of 
all worlds would employ such a contemptible creature to 
bring about his plan of redeeming his favorite people from 



TO THE REIGN OF SAUL. 59 

bondage? Let us take a bird's-eye view of* Samson's life; 
and first, we will inquire^ what end was to be answered by 
raising up this mighty man ? Secondly, did Samson per- 
form the intention of Jehovah towards his chosen race ? 

We proceed to the first inquiry, What end was to be an- 
swered by raising up Samson? His whole life was one con- 
tinued scene of folly and licentiousness ; shedding of blood 
was his practice ; and the mighty strength given him by Je- 
hovah, was employed in doing the most wanton mischief, 
such as none but a madman would perform. The object of 
so much murder and bloodshed, we are informed, was to 
deliver the Israelites from Philistine subjugation ; in doing 
which, he fell a victim to his own folly, in destroying the 
enemies of the Lord. Can it be possible that the Ruler of 
all worlds raised up such a madman to carry out his plans ? 
If a story of this kind should be recorded in any other book 
than the Bible, no credit would be given to it. But when 
it is recorded as making a part of God's dealings with his 
chosen people^ it is shocking to all our ideas of Infinite Wis- 
dom, Power, and Goodness. 

In the second place, What resulted to Israel by the efforts 
of Samson? We answer, nothing at all; for in consequence 
of the wickedness of the Benjamites, a war soon after com- 
menced between the tribes, in which thousands and tens of 
thousands were slain. The history of Samson, then, is one 
of those fables with which the Scriptures abound, and which, 
if recorded by heathen authors, no one could be found who 
would believe them to be any thing but fables. But being a 
part of the Bible, Christians attach consequence to them, 
and father them on the all- wise, all-powerful God, the Ruler 
of the Universe. 

Finally, to show the folly in believing that Samson was 
raised up to redeem the Israelites from serving the Philis- 
tines: — by the battle fought immediately after the death of 
Samson, the Philistines gained a complete victory over Is- 
rael, routed the whole army, and took the ark of the Lord 
prisoner. 

It may be of service to the reader to give some account of 



gQ FROM THE DEATH OF JOSHUA 

the ark of the Lord ; and in this, we must be instructed by 
the Bible account alone. The ark, it appears, was a chest 
or box, in which the following things were said to be kept : 
the book of the law, the pot with manna, and Aaron's rod, 
by which the wonders were performed in Egypt. On the 
lid or cover were placed two cherubims with their wings 
somewhat extended, and their necks turned downwards to 
the cover of the ark, called the mercy-seat. This holy ark 
was kept in the holy of holies; and when the priests entered 
in to perform sacrifice on the mercy-seat, the cloud of smoke 
between the cherubims became luminous. This light was 
considered by the priest as an acceptance of the offering 
made by him for the sins of the people. Hence the phrase 
of adoration applied to the Jewish God. '•'• Oh! thou God 
(hat dwelleth between the cherubims V 

When the Jews were in the battle with the Philistines. 
and about to be routed, they brought the ark of the Lord 
into the camp as a protection against a defeat, and also to 
encourage the Israelites to fight most manfully: the Lord of 
Hosts being then in the midst of them, the}?- shouted for joy, 
as being certain of a victory over their enemies. On the 
other side, the Philistines, understanding that trie God of the 
Hebrews had arrived in their camp, were afraid, and cried 
out, " Woe unto us I who shall deliver us out of the hand of 
these mighty Gods?" The commanders of the Philistines 
then encouraged their soldiers to battle, urging them on. so 
that the Jews might be vanquished; and they slew the Isra- 
elites with a destructive slaughter, and took the ark of the 
Jewish God prisoner, and killed the two sons of Eli. the 
High-Priest. This dreadful news so overcame the old man, 
who was ninety-eight years of age, that he fell out. of his 
chair and broke his neck. 

We may now ask, what will Christians say to God's rais- 
ing up Samson ? Did he deliver the Jews out of their then 
bondage? But I have wasted too much time on such a con- 
temptible madman and fool ; yet I excuse myself in this re- 
spect by the desire of showing, that, to call Samson a servant 
of the Ruler of the Universe, is too contemptible even for 



TO THE REIGN OF SAUL. , (JJ 

ridicule. A few remarks on the fate of the ark of the Lord, 
will conclude this chapter. The foregoing account is re- 
corded in 1 Samuel, chapter iv. 

After the dreadful slaughter of the Israelites, and the cap- 
ture of the ark, the Philistines were afflicted with a complaint 
that threatened them with destruction ; and after consulting 
among themselves as to the cause of their sickness, they con- 
cluded that the capture and detention of the ark was to them 
more than a counterbalance for the victory gained over the 
Jews. They therefore agreed, one and all, to send it back 
to its owners. Before sending it back, we may suppose 
something like the following conversation took place: — We 
have defeated the Jews, and slain thousands of them ; and 
although their God was in the camp of Israel, he could not 
save them from the edge of the sword. But. after all. we 
are afflicted with a dreadful disorder, which, if it continues, 
will exterminate our nation. Our complaint is of that na- 
ture, that we shall drop to pieces in the streets and upon the 
highways. Our wives, instead of baking bread, must be 
continually making poultices, to prevent our being consid- 
ered as walking pestilences: the ark must be returned. In- 
stead of a God for a prisoner, why, we have the Devil in 
the box. We must get rid of it; it must be sent back to the 
Jews. Home it was carried: and when it had arrived 
at Beth-shemesh, in the time of harvest, the reapers, over- 
joyed to witness the safe return of the ark, laid down their 
sickles and ran to look into it. The Jehovah of Israel de- 
stroyed the honest-hearted reapers, to the number of fifty 
thousand threescore and ten, for their impudence. 

Can a man on earth be found who can believe the fore- 
going account to be any thing but fabulous? If this account 
is matter of fact, what degrading ideas are connected with 
the existence of Infinite Wisdom and Goodness ! If there is 
any thing Divine about this foolish tale, it then follows, that 
the Almighty Power that presides over all worlds, — that 
astonishing Wisdom which strikes us dumb in contemplat- 
ing the harmony and surprising adaptation displayed in the 
xmiverse, — associated with such madmen and fools as Sam- 
6 



m 



FKOM THE DEATH OF JOSHUA 



son, and hundreds of others whose freaks are recorded in 
the Bible. This is opposed to every idea that we can possi- 
bly have of his greatness. Let those who are but little ac- 
quainted with Astronomy, contemplate the grandeur of the 
universe, and ask if it be possible that a Being who arranges 
all, and who governs all with that exactness which over- 
whelms not only the ignorant and untaught man, but also 
the most profound and learned of the human race, should 
thus act? Mark well the infinite wisdom which is apparent 
in the vast universe of which man forms but so small a part ! 
For one moment reflect on boundless space, filled with mil- 
lions of millions of suns, around which revolve innumerable 
worlds; all of them arranged and upheld by that Power 
which Christians believe to be the author of the Bible, either 
directly or indirectly. That this being should mix up with 
the most abandoned characters on earth, and be forever 
doing and undoing; forever planning and failing in his 
plans; choosing his favorites, and then repenting of such 
choice ; inheriting all the infirmities of fallible man ; some- 
times, tired out with the follies and wickedness of his chosen 
people, sinking, as it were, down into a state of inaction; 
again, rising in vengeance, destroying even his chosen peo- 
ple without mercy; at times, appearing to be long-suffering 
and merciful ; at other times, revenging injuries by destruc- 
tion and death on a present generation, for the errors of an- 
other generation long since dead and gone, is inconsistent 
with common sense. 

In fact, the Jehovah of the Bible, from the accounts re- 
corded, appears never to be at ease. Anger, rage, fury, al- 
ternately disturb him. The smallest deviation of his chosen 
people in the performance of some trifling ceremony, would 
at times call down the most horrid chastisements on both 
the innocent and the guilty. If the Bible truly records the 
movements of Jehovah, he must be the most unhappy Being 
in the universe; for it is said that he is angry every day. 
The previous description of the God of the Bible is but a 
scantling of what is written concerning his dealings, even 
with the seed of Abram. 



TO THE KEIGN OF SAUL. (J3 

Ye ministers of the gospel ! look at the heavens above, 
and the earth beneath ! Mark well the unchangeable order 
which pervades the whole ! How admirably every thing is 
arranged ! how skilfully the means are adapted to the end 
intended! No arranging, and then re-arranging: no missing 
the mark — no going beyond or wide of the mark. Before 
you talk of the "unblushing Infidel," and deal out the ven- 
geance of your Bible God, look at the order, the grandeur , 
the undisturbed harmony that governs the whole; and then 
pause, and ask yourselves, if it be possible for the Sovereign 
Ruler of all worlds, to have dictated the Bible, which you so 
positively assert is the Word of the only true and living God? 



CHAPTER VI. 

THE REIGNS OF SAUL, DAVID, AND SOLOMON. 

Samuel, the last of the Judges of Israel, when very old, 
appointed his sons to judge the people — " But they took 
bribes and 'perverted judgment" The Israelites complained 
to Samuel of their injustice, and demanded a King, like other 
nations. Now, considering the unsettled state of the Jews 
for hundreds of years, "when there was no King in Israel, 
and every man did that which ivas right in his own eyes" 
the request was reasonable ; for they were tired of the un- 
settled state of their national affairs. Samuel inquired of 
the Lord what was to be done ? The reply from the Lord 
was, that Samuel was to let them have a King, agreeably to 
their wishes ; at the same time, it displeased Jehovah, who 
chose Saul without consulting the people. His choice is re- 
corded to have been pleasing to the Lord, who gave Saul a 
good character. This kingly government seemed fair in the 
beginning, and we ought to expect it would have proved a 



,§4 THE REIGNS OF SAUL, DAVID, AND SOLOMON. 

change for the "better, as it was hy Jehovah's own appoint- 
ment. At the commencement of Saul's reign, he was ordered 
to go and fight against the Amalekites. The order was thus 
given: — u Thus saith the Lord of Hosts, I remember that 
which Amalek did to Israel; how he laid toait for him in the 
way when he came up from Egypt." This offence was given 
some hundred years before, when the Israelites were passing 
to the land of promise ; when the Amalekites opposed them, 
and refused to let them go through their land. To us, this 
vengeance appears cruel and unjust. This was visiting the 
sins of the fathers on the children with a vengeance. At the 
present day, no tyrant could be found that would imitate 
such base conduct as is fathered on the all- wise, all-powerful 
Ruler of the World. 

The following statement will serve to make the situation 
of Saul clearly understood by the readers of this work, and 
will show the nature of Saul's offence for which he and his 
family were so severely punished: — Some four or five hun- 
dred years before Saul was born, the Israelites were opposed 
to the Amalekites passing through their land; and when 
Saul was chosen King, by Jehovah, his first campaign was 
to go and destroy the then inhabitants of Amalek, for an of- 
fence committed by their forefathers long since dead and gone. 
Saul was ordered by Jehovah not to save old or young, but 
to kill (murder) all. from the suckling to hoary old age. He 
fulfilled his orders as he thought, excepting that of taking 
their King prisoner, and the best of the cattle to sacrifice to 
Jehovah's honor ; and for this one act of mercy, Saul was 
deposed, and David ehosen in his stead. Now. if Jehovah 
knew that Saul would not obey the orders given, why was 
he chosen to be their King at all ? And if Jehovah was dis- 
appointed, where was his foreknowledge? Does that Power 
and Wisdom that rules the Universe, blunder in this way? 
What say you, Christian ministers ? 

According to what is written, the Jewish God repented 
that he made this choice ! Did he repent? We are told that 
when Saul was put down, and David made King in his stead, 
that Jehovah could not, like man. repent in putting down 



THE REIGNS OF SAUL, DAVID, AND SOLOMON. gg 

David, though he had done so as it respected Saul. To 
father such inconsistency on the Author of Nature, is an 
outrage on justice and common sense. Again, to punish 
with fire and sword a whole nation, for what their fore- 
fathers had done five hundred years before ; and to make 
the God of the Universe the author of such a command, — 
if blasphemy exists against God, this is it to perfection. 

From the short reign of Saul, we cannot form a decided 
opinion as to his kingly character ; but one thing is clear, 
from the Scriptures, that his act of mercy towards the 
King of Amalek, offended Jehovah, and both himself and 
family suffered grievously for it ; for Samuel told Saul, that 
in consequence of his sparing Agag, the King, his royal au- 
thority was taken from him, and given to a man better than 
he. Well might a poet, who wrote on this subject about 
forty years ago, call Samuel an impostor, and exclaim — 
" From haunts of men be that impostor driven, 
Who thinks humanity incenses heaven." 

In concluding this account of Saul, we may venture to af- 
firm, that he was one of the best Kings on record; his only 
failing appears to have been his humanity. 

We now come to the reign of David, "the man after 
God's oivn heart" It appears that his slaying Goliah, first 
brought him into notice ; for which act David was to be re- 
warded by having Saul's daughter in marriage. Before this 
took place, however, it is recorded, in 1 Samuel xviii., 10, 
" And it came to pass on the morrow, that the evil spirit from 
God cam,e upon Said" ; but David could play so well on 
some kind of a musical instrument, that his performance 
drove the Devil out of the old King. From this account it 
seems, if the evil spirit means a Devil, that Jehovah kept 
Devils ready to start off from heaven to do any dirty work; 
a very worthy practice to ascribe to the God of all ! It ap- 
pears that Saul's troubles, and the evil spirit sent to him 
from the Lord, had nearly made him crazy — and well it 
might: but I have no pity for him, because there is not one 
word of truth in the whole silly tale. 

David now demands his wife, according to promise ; but 
6* 



55 THE REIGNS OF SAUL, DAVID, AND SOLOMON. 

Sanl puts a heavy tax on his intended son-in-law, before his 
daughter could be given up. The demand made by Saul on 
David, before he was permitted to marry his daughter, is 
written in 1 Samuel xviii., 25, — an account showing how 
well cultivated Kings and Princes were in those days, but 
too filthy for me to detail. Notwithstanding Saul was de- 
posed, and David anointed King, still Saul kept possession 
of the kingdom, and David was an object of jealousy. At 
this time, the Israelites were in an unsettled state; and 
David, although a King, had no resources. A part of the 
people were with David, but the bulk of the nation adhered 
to Saul. 

Those two Kings, then, both of whom had been chosen 
by Jehovah, were still opposing each other. Now, what 
folly to suppose that either of them were appointed by the 
Governor of all the Earth ! Even admitting the historical 
part to be true, who can believe that Infinite Wisdom had 
any part in so unsettled a form of government? it being like 
unto what England was at one time of her history, when 
two parties were contending for power. What a change- 
able, unsettled Being do the Scriptures make the Jewish 
God! and what folly to believe him to be the Sovereign 
Ruler of all ! The regularity and order which is every 
where and at all times manifest in nature, proclaim to all 
nations that the Jehovah of the Bible is not Nature's God. 

Although David had been anointed King, to the exclusion 
of Saul and his house, still the old King retained his au- 
thority, and David was compelled to be cautious how he 
proceeded, as Saul was jealous of him as a rival. Now 
David had recourse to the following expedient: — " And he 
collected every one that ivas in distress, and every one that 
was in debt, and every one that was discontented, and, he be- 
came a captain over them, and there were iviih him about 
four hundred men" David, in one of his flights from Saul, 
and being in want of bread, applied to Abimelech, the priest, 
for five loaves; and the priest answered David, and said, 
" There is no common bread under mine hand, but there is 
halloioed bread, if the young men have at least kept them-* 



THE REIGNS OF SAUL, DAVID, AND SOLOMON. ggj 

selves from women." And David answered the priest, and 
said unto him, " Of a truth, ivomen have been kept from its 
about three days, since I came out." The reader will now 
see how David began his reign, as the following incident 
will also fully confirm. The above account may be found 
in 1 Samuel, chapter xxi. 

The following account of the progress of David and his 
small army, is in 1 Samuel, chapter xxv. : — David fled into 
the wilderness, and while there, he heard of a rich man by 
the name of Nabal, who had, on a shearing, made a feast for 
his shearers and friends. David embraced this opportunity 
to levy a tax on Nabal, and sent ten young men to ask for 
a part of the good things prepared for the sheep shearing : 
" And Nabal ansivered David? s servants, and said, who is 
David? and who is the son of Jesse? there be many servants 
now-a-days that break aioay every man from his master. 
Shall I then take my bread, and my water, and my flesh that 
I have killed for my shearers, and give it unto men lohom I 
knoio not whence they be?" This answer so enraged David, 
that he exclaimed, " The time my army lay in the wilder- 
ness, near to the flock of Nabal, we took nothing from them, 
and also prevented others from stealing of the flock, and now 
I cannot get a dinner for me and my six hundred men." 
" And David said unto his men, Gird ye on every man his 
sioord. And they girded on every man his sivord : and 
David also girded on his sword : and there went up after 
David about four hundred men, and tico hundred abode by 
the stuff" Now, to use David's own words, he intended to 
slay every man living ; Nabal, sheep shearers, and all be- 
longing to him. Do n't forget this was the man after Jeho- 
vah's own heart ! 

But it happened that Abigail, Nabal's wife, heard of her 
husband's refusal to David's demands, and she loaded seve- 
ral asses with all kinds of the best provisions, and met David 
as he was advancing to take vengeance on Nabal. And when 
David saw her, he said, " Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, 
which sent thee this day to meet me. For i?i very deed, as 
the Lord God of Israel liveth, ichich hath kept me back from 



gg THE REIGNS OF SAUL, DAVID, AND SOLOMON. 

hurting thee, except thou hadst hasted, and come to meet me, 
surely there had not been left unto Nabal by the morning 
light, any thai pisseth against the watt." It is recorded after 
this, that in about ten days, u the Lord smote Nabal that he 
died. 11 Christians, perhaps, will say, it served him right; 
because he would not give away his dinner to the Lord's 
anointed. But to complete this account of David, it is writ- 
ten that he married Nabal' s widow, and then he had sheep, 
goats, and all, although he had many wives before; but, 
being u a man after God's own heart" we Infidels must be 
silent. 

After the death of Saul, David being in favor with the 
people, and strictly adhering to the worship of Jehovah, his 
reign bid fair to be happy to himself, and to the nation at 
large: but he had too many wives, and consequently his 
family troubles came on thick and fast. One son rebelled 
against him, and flew to arms ; and Solomon usurped the 
throne after the death of his father, and put to death his 
elder brother by a former wife, under a pretence the most 
frivolous, to secure himself a safe possession of his usurped 
power. Another son ravished his half-sister by another 
mother ; and in return, the ravisher was murdered by the 
brother of the violated virgin. In truth, if it is true as re- 
corded, David's whole life was one continued scene of blood 
and slaughter ; and on his death-bed he recommended Solo- 
mon to murder others — as his oath prevented him from 
doing it in his lifetime. 

However strictly David obeyed Jehovah, and " turned not 
aside to worship other gods," in a moral point of view he 
was a wicked man. His conduct for licentiousness was no- 
torious. In addition to the number of wives he had before 
the death of Saul, his royal master, Nathan the prophet says 
that "Jehovah gave him Saul's wives, besides"; but, not 
satisfied with all this, so contemptible was his conduct, he 
sneaked about to obtain a sight of an officer's wife while 
in the bath. Such low, cowardly curiosity would disgrace 
the driver of a dung-cart. A lady's bath not to be held sa- 
cred by this filthy, dirty animal, and yet to be called "the 



THE REIGNS OF SAUL, DAVID, AND SOLOMON. Qfy 

man after God's own heart"! His actions would disgrace 
the Devil, for Satan offered no insult to Eve: his worst crime 
was no more than saying — -'Madam, the fruit is good, do 
taste, it will do you no harm, and you will be the wiser 
after all." 

Never let us forget the artifice the Lord's anointed made 
use of, in order to conceal his crime. When Uriah, his 
officer, came from the army with news of importance to 
David, after the seduction of Bathsheba, the cunning de- 
bauchee said, come, Uriah, do not hurry back to the camp; 
go home to Bathsheba. your wife ; she will be happy to see 
you : go home, my faithful servant, and stay with your wife. 
But Uriah refused, by saying, the officers and the army are 
in the open fields, and I will not go home to take comfort in 
my own house. So Uriah slept in the gate with the ser- 
vants. And when David found that he had not been home, 
he made him tarry another day, and that night got him 
drunk. In the meantime the King wrote a letter to Joab, 
the Captain of the host, and sent it by Uriah, to place him 
in the front of the battle, where he would be killed. The 
unsuspecting Uriah then returned to his duty, with his death 
warrant in his hand ; and, according to the orders given to 
Joab, the commander of the host of Israel, Uriah was placed 
in that part of the engagement where he fell, covered with 
wounds and glory. 

It will be seen by the orders sent to the Captain, concern- 
ing Uriah, by the King, what cowardly artifice was used to 
murder his noble officer, whose wife, unknown to him, had 
been seduced. David's words are, " Set ye Uriah in the 
forefront of the hottest battle, and retire ye from him, that 
he may be smitten and die. 11 Such an act would disgrace 
the worst despot on earth, but it was done by "the man 
after God's own heart" ! When Nathan was sent by Jeho- 
vah to David, to remind him of his wickedness, it was done 
in the way of a parable. David did not at first discover its 
application: and it is recorded, that " David' s anger was 
greatly kindled against the man, and he said unto Nathan^ 
as the Lord liveth, the man that hath done this thing si tall 



70 THE REIGNS OF SAUL, DAVID, AND SOLOMON. 

surely die" " Thou art the man!" said Nathan ; and David 
exclaimed, "Oh! Lord, I have sinned" In fact, he was 
found out, but for which he would not have made this 
acknowledgment. 

After the death of Uriah, David took her (Bathsheba) to 
wife, and Jehovah made up the matter with him ; first, by 
destroying the child, the innocent victim who had no part in 
the murder ; and, secondly, by saving and pardoning David 
for crimes of the deepest dye : and, also, the Lord told him, 
that because of his wickedness he should have discord in his 
family: — " Thus saith the Lord, Behold, I will raise up evil 
against thee, out of thine house, and I will take thy wives be- 
fore thine eyes, and give them unto thy neighbor, and he 
shall lie with thy wives in the sight of this sun." To de- 
stroy the innocent child, who had no participation in the 
crime of the father, is too shocking to be admitted, when it 
is recorded as the sentence of the just and impartial God. 
I know Christians will reply, that the ways of God are not 
as our ways, and that it is wicked in mortals to find fault 
with what is done by a Being of infinite power, wisdom, 
and Goodness. In reply, it is contended that the conduct 
pursued on this occasion by Jehovah, is shocking when as- 
cribed to a God impartial and just, and that it is more be- 
coming mortals, like ourselves, to reject the whole story as 
a vile falsehood, than to father it on that Being, or that 
Cause, who 

" Warms in the sun, refreshes in the breeze, 
Glows in the stars, and blossoms in the trees." 

To conclude these remarks on David's life and conduct, 
we ask, which is the more reasonable supposition, that the 
whole account, so far as it implicates a God of Justice, is, 
from beginning to end ; untrue? or, that a Being of un- 
bounded power, wisdom and goodness, should in any way 
associate with so abandoned a character as King David? 
For myself. I prefer the latter. I have omitted another ac- 
count in the life of David, that requires to be noticed. It is 
recorded in 2 Samuel, chapter xxiv., that David ordered the 
people to be numbered. One account says that Satan, and 



THE REIGNS OF SAUL, DAVID, AND SOLOMON. ^| 

another account says that the Lord, moved David to num- 
ber the people : no doubt it was done to get the number of 
the fighting men of Israel ; for doing which, the Lord was 
angry with David; and three modes of punishment were 
submitted for the choice of the King : — " Seven ij ears' famine, 
or to flee three months before his enemies, or to have three 
days' 'pestilence in the land" The last was chosen, and it 
is recorded that seventy thousand men died of the pestilence, 
as a punishment for the offence of David. It is a libel on 
the Supreme Being to charge him with the authorship of 
such injustice and cruelty. That thousands of persons may 
have been cut off by plague, or pestilence, at times, and in 
different nations, is highly probable — but not by a judgment 
for other men's sins. 

In Homer's Iliad, we have a similar account, written, ac- 
cording to historians, about nine hundred years before the 
Christian era. In the account of the Trojan War. the com- 
mander of the Grecian army, in the sacking of different 
towns, took many female captives, among whom was one 
who was the daughter of the Priest of Apollo, one of the 
Grecian gods. The venerable Priest came to the General, 
clothed in his robes, bearing the sublime and awe-inspiring 
ensigns of his god, and demanded the liberation of his cap- 
tive daughter. The General insulted the Priest by a posi- 
tive refusal to give up his daughter, and he (the Priest) 
departed, and offered the following prayer : — 

" If e'er with wreaths I hung the sacred fane, 
Or fed the flame with fat of oxen slain, 
God of the silver bow, thy shafts employ, 
Avenge my quarrel, and the Greeks destroy." 

The second General in command inquired of the Grecian 
Priest the cause of such mortality among the soldiers ; and 
the Priest returned the following answer : — 

" The King of men, the reverend Priest defied, 
And. for the King's offence, the people died." 

The similarity between the Jehovah of the Jews, and the 
Apollo of the Greeks, is very striking. Jehovah slew the 
Jewish army because David numbered the people; and the 



72 THE REIGNS OF SAUL, DAVID, AND SOLOMON. 

Grecian god slew the soldiers because the Priest had been 
insulted. The number is exactly the same, each being 
seventy thousand men. The God of the Jews is said to 
have been the author of the destruction of the army of the 
Israelites, and a heathen god the destroyer of the Greeks. 
The first is believed to be a part of Divine Revelation ; the 
last is acknowledged to be but fiction. 

From all the accounts recorded respecting David, to me 
he appears to have been a wicked man ; much worse than 
Saul, whose worst action seems to have been his humanity 
in sparing Agag, whom he took prisoner. I cannot, there- 
fore, believe, that the Universal Ruler of all Nature sanc- 
tioned his actions, directly or indirectly, any more than he 
does now. or ever has done, those of any other legal murderer. 

A few remarks more will conclude the life and conduct of 
David. In 1 Kings, chapter i., it is recorded, that David 
being old and infirm, could get no warmth in bed, and a 
fair young damsel was sought for throughout the land of 
Israel, to wait on him by day, and sleep with him during 
the night, to keep the old King warm. With her he was 
much pleased, but the account states, that " David the King 
kneio her not." This is a strange tale, for if the sole object 
was, to get a young woman to sleep with him, then not the 
fairest, but the fattest, plumpest girl to be found throughout 
the land, would have been the most proper person for such 
service ; for at that time, David must have had half a score 
of wives living. It is therefore clear, that warmth was only 
a pretence for selecting a handsome young maiden to comfort 
the Lord's anointed ; and we may safely infer that David 
was not cured of his former tricks. 

The life and conduct of Solomon must now pass in review. 
When his father was on his death-bed, he gave his son Solo- 
mon instructions to put to death several persons who had 
been the subjects of David, but to whom he (David) had 
sworn while living, that he would spare their lives. And 
accordingly. Solomon, after the death of his father, put into 
execution the orders he had received, and slew the persons 
mentioned by David; so that his reign commenced in blood. 



THE REIGNS OF SAUL, DAVID, AND SOLOMON. 73 

And here it is proper to notice, that Bathsheba, the wife of 
Uriah, and the mother of Solomon, in order to disinherit the 
eldest son of David by his former wife, prevailed on David 
to have Solomon anointed King, in the lifetime of his father. 
So that Adonijah, the real heir, was set aside; and the better 
to secure the throne, Solomon had his half-brother put to 
death. The cause of this execution, as is recorded, was be- 
cause Adonijah asked leave of Solomon, the King, to marry 
the damsel who kept David warm in his old age ! Jehovah 
had chosen a strange family, after turning out Saul from the 
kingdom, and Solomon was too pure to let a brother live, 
after being so wicked as to ask permission to marry the 
young virgin who had kept the back of his old father warm 
in acold night! 

After Solomon had slain those men according to the orders- 
before given by his father, he added another to the list, viz., 
Adonijah, his half-brother. The Lord appeared to him in a 
dream, and said, u Ask what I shall give thee." Solomon 
then dreamed that he gave the following reply to the gra- 
cious permission: — u Give, therefore, thy servant an under- 
standing heart to judge thy people, that I may discern be- 
tween good and bad." This request is said to have pleased 
the Lord, who added to it u both riches and honor" ; " and 
Solomon awoke, and behold it was a dream." This account 
is written in 1 Kings, chapter iii. ; and all that can be made 
of it is, that Solomon dreamed the Lord told him so, and we 
have nothing but his word for it. 

The Bible record of Solomon's riches, and, in fact, the 
whole of his life, is not entitled to any credit whatever. We 
may say, however, that some allowance ought to be made 
for Solomon on account of the bad example under which he 
was brought up in the family of his father; for if the Scrip- 
ture history of the facts concerning Solomon is to be consid- 
ered true, then the whole of his reign is the most extraordi- 
nary which ever happened in the world. Beginning with 
his riches, it exceeds every thing in ancient or modern times. 
The feast at the opening of the Temple was no small matter. 
Sciipture informs us, that at the dedication of the Temple, 
7 



74 THE REIGNS OF SAUL, DAVID, AND SOLOMON. 

the sacrifice offered up, was twenty-two thousand oxen, and 
one hundred and twenty-two thousand sheep. This, when 
we consider the smallness of David's domains, and the gen- 
eral poverty of his family, is incredible ; but as every thing 
is so wonderful, and the whole of the reign of Solomon is so 
extravagant, no dependence whatever is to be placed on any 
of its accounts. 

As it regards Solomon's household, the provisions named 
for each day are the following : — " Thirty measures of fine 
flour ) threescore measures of meal, ten fat oxen, and twenty 
oxen out of the pastures, and an hundred sheep, besides harts 
and roebucks, and fallow-deer, and fatted fowls." " And 
Solomon had forty thousand stalls of horses for his chariots, 
and twelve thousand horsemen." Now, in so small, and in 
many parts barren land, where could they be raised 2 But 
Solomon had need of a plentiful table, for it is recorded that 
he had seven hundred wives, and three hundred concubines ! 
If he had wisdom enough to regulate his house so as to live 
happy, it must be owned that the Lord had given him more 
than a common share; but as none but fools or madmen will 
believe this account, we may let it pass without comment. 

The most astonishing inconsistency in the reign of Solo- 
man, is his continual departure from the worship of Jehovah, 
who had been his benefactor, and who had also repeatedly 
warned him of the consequences of a departure from the 
God of his father. If what is recorded of his riches be true, 
they were greater than those of any monarch on earth. The 
gold he is said to have possessed when he built the Temple, 
exceeds all calculation, and is in strict accordance, in point of 
magnitude, with his feast at the dedication of the Temple, 
and with his daily allowance of food for his household, and 
also with his seven hundred wives, and three hundred con- 
cubines. But when we consider the poverty of the Israelites 
up to the time of his father's reign, and also David's poverty 
until the death of Saul, when at times, David had neither 
food for himself nor army, neither had he gold nor silver 
wherewith to purchase it — it may be asked, how Solomon 
came into the possession of such an immense quantity of 



THE REIGNS OF SAUL, DAVID, AND SOLOMON. 75 

gold? and also from what vast extent of country did he 
procure his horses, when but a few years before, David, his 
father, could scarcely afford to keep a jackass? Again, 
where did he procure such numerous herds of cattle and 
flocks of sheep? 

But as 1 have before said, the greatest inconsistency of all 
is, that Solomon should worship other gods, contrary to the 
express command of Jehovah, who had given him wisdom, 
riches, and honors. Leaving Christians, then, to settle with 
Solomon, how he, with all his wisdom, could so play the 
fool and madman in the face of his God, some attention will 
be directed to the God of Abram, Isaac, and Jacob. It will 
be recollected that Saul, the predecessor of David, had of- 
fended Jehovah by sparing the life of Agag, a captive King. 
In consequence, it is recorded that the God of Israel repented 
that he put Saul on the throne. He then chose David, and 
his family, to succeed the house of Saul ; and having made 
this second choice, he declared he should not repent again. 

If this last declaration had been made by man, in his 
choice, after having before been mistaken, the following 
mode of reasoning would aptly apply; and Jehovah would 
also thus reason: — "I made choice of Saul to be King over 
Israel. I sent him to smite Amalek, and not to spare any 
soul alive, old age and infancy not excepted ; but Saul did 
not obey my orders, but spared the King and brought him a 
captive, which I did not expect. As I took him from driv- 
ing mules, and made him a King, he ought therefore to have 
obeyed my commands. I dethroned him and his family for- 
ever. I then appointed David, a man after my own heart. 
In this choice I was happy. He departed not from my wor- 
ship or my law, but with a few exceptions. It is true, David 
committed adultery and murder, in the case of Bathsheba 
and Uriah ; but he repented, and I caused the brat to die 
out of the way, which made room for Solomon. Now, who 
could ever have thought that Solomon would have turned 
out so bad? Why, the fellow, in addition to wisdom, riches, 
and honor, has now seven hundred wives, and three hun- 
dred concubines! and not content with this number, he 



76 THE REIGNS Of SAXfL, DAVID, AND SOLOMON. 

marries the daughters of heathens, prostrates himself be- 
fore their idols, and builds new temples to their gods ; but I 
promised not to repent again, yet Solomon must be punished. 
I will not, therefore, depose him, but in his son's reign 1 will 
divide the kingdom, and give the greater part of it to one of 
mean birth. I will not wholly take it away from the seed 
of David, because I promised him that he should not want 
a man to sit on his throne : but I will, for the wickedness of 
Solomon, cause discord among the tribes, that will induce 
them to fight against each other. It is not for the thousand 
women that Solomon had, which would not fail to create 
■discord and all manner of misery; neither for putting to 
death his brother : all that I could have tolerated — but he 
changed his religion, and worshipped strange gods ; I will 
rend the nation asunder, never more to be united. It would 
have been more to my honor to have suffered Saul to con- 
tinue on the throne, for he only disobeyed my orders once, 
but the son of David built temples for idolatry, and wor- 
shipped false gods, setting my authority at defiance. In his 
son's reign, therefore, I will bring on trouble in his house, 
that all Israel may know how great is the sin of worship- 
ping false gods, and thus rebelling against the Lord of Hosts, 
the God of Israel." 

I will now ask the Christian preachers, whether I dis- 
honor the all-wise Sovereign of + ,he Universe, in not believ- 
ing him to be capable of such tomfoolery as this: in choosing, 
and again rejecting his former choice : in blundering, to rec- 
tify a former blunder, and falling into one much greater, to 
remedy the first: to be doing, and undoing: to have an end 
to accomplish, and to make use of means that fail in its ac- 
complishment ? Ye priests ! if ye are not blind, look at the 
heavens above, and also on the earth beneath, and then ask 
yourselves, whether the God of all is the same personage as 
Jehovah, the God of Israel? 

To conclude these remarks respecting the house of David 
and Solomon : — Even admitting that such personages had a 
real existence, I cannot so dishonor the Supreme Governor 
of Nature as for a moment to admit, that he dealt with 



THE REIGNS OF SAUL, DAVID, AND SOLOMON. 77 

either David or Solomon any otherwise than he deals with 
every human being, and I should stand before my fellow 
men a self-convicted hypocrite, were I to affect to believe 
-wise. 



CHAPTER VII 



THE REIGN OF JEROBOAM, AND THE SEPARATION OF 
ISRAEL FROM JUDAH. 

Reviewing the character of the three former Kings, two 
of whom gave Jehovah much trouble, and David, the best 
of them, committed adultery and murder, we must say, it 
was an unfortunate beginning of royal government. After 
the death of Solomon, his son, Rehoboam, began to reign. 
The people requested the new made King to ease them 
somewhat of the taxes and burdens laid on them by his 
father, Solomon. Rehoboam consulted with his father's old 
servants on that subject, and they advised him to attend to 
the wishes of his people; but he, on consulting with his own 
particular party, returned the following answer: — " My little 
finger shall be thicker than my fathers loins : my father 
hath chastised you with whips ', hut I will chastise you with 
scorpions.'''' This gives us a sample of Solomon's reign, and 
also of the course intended to be pursused by his son. 

Rehoboam' s answer produced a revolt, and the kingdom 
became divided. Ten tribes broke off from Rehoboam, and 
proclaimed Jeroboam King of Israel, while Rehoboam re- 
tained two tribes : so that the Israelites were divided. The 
ten tribes were called the kingdom of Israel, and the other 
two, the kingdom of Judah. This is the punishment that 
the Lord said he would bring on the nations in consequence 
of the sins of Solomon. So it was then, with the Lord's 
7* 



73 THE REIGN OF JEROBOAM, 

people, as it has ever been in Christian countries where the 
aristocracy is every thing, and the people are considered as 
nothing. According to Jewish history, Jehovah and the 
Kings of his own choosing quarrelled, and then the people 
had to suffer in consequence of disputes in which they had 
but little or no interest ; and one of the strongest proofs that 
" the God of the Bible " is not that Being whom we believe 
to be the only true God, is, that when the Jehovah of Moses 
and the Kings quarrel, the Kings are spared alive, but the 
innocent people are in some way or other murdered ; thus 
clearly showing, that Kings are by Jehovah worth more 
than those who by honest toil cultivate the earth, and labor 
for the benefit of society, — a doctrine directly opposite to 
all our ideas of impartial justice. 

We now proceed to examine the course pursued by Jero- 
boam, the fourth King who was chosen to reign over Israel. 
We ought to find him fitted for so important a station ; but, 
on the contrary, we have again to record another chapter of 
blunders, far worse than those before mentioned. Saul, their 
first King, disobeyed the command in sparing Agag, the King, 
after having destroyed every soul that drew breath. David 
followed the Lord with his whole heart ; that is, he never 
entered into the temple of idols except to destroy them and 
their worshippers; but he was guilty of two crimes, for 
either of which, had he been any thing but a King, or Priest, 
he would have been, by the laws of his own country, put to 
death. Solomon's character was marked by every thing ex- 
travagant ; but he did not wholly turn from the worship of 
Jehovah, only at times, as when he espoused a heathen lady. 
Then, to prove his love for his new spouse, he worshipped 
in the temple of strange gods, and also built new churches 
to their honor. This is a general outline of the three Kings, 
all of whom were chosen by Jehovah himself. 

Jeroboam was appointed, according to what is recorded, 
in consequence of Solomon's idolatry. I then ask, whether 
it is not reasonable to expect, that, in the reign of Jeroboam, 
the worship of the God of Israel would alone be the religion 
of the ten tribes who were taken from Solomon because of 



AND THE SEPARATION OF ISRAEL FROM JUDAH. fg 

his departure at times from the God of Abram, Isaac, and 
Jacob ? Jeroboam being then, by Jehovah, made King, in 
preference to all others, and being raised in the family of 
Rehoboam, Solomon's son, and only as a servant connected 
with the family, we cannot suspect that ever a new choice 
should have been made for the worse. Could this have been 
the case if Infinite Wisdom had chosen him ? No ; it is im- 
possible! No sooner, however, did Jeroboam obtain the rule 
over the ten tribes, by the direct order of Jehovah himself, 
than he sat up a religion directly opposite to the God who 
had elevated him to such honor and power. 

It is impossible for this account to be true, for two reasons 
that will be given. The first is, that Jeroboam must have 
known the cause why Solomon's family were excluded from 
reigning over the whole of the Jewish nation, namely, be- 
cause he (Solomon) did at times worship what were called 
false gods. Now, Jeroboam well knew this, and also, that 
the only way for him to secure his power was, never to de- 
part at any time, or under any circumstances, from the wor- 
ship of Jehovah. But, contrary to this, he commenced his 
reign by falling back into Egyptian idolatry. Under pre- 
tence of keeping his subjects faithful to his government, by 
not permitting them to go up to the Temple, at Jerusalem, 
Jeroboam sat up two golden calves, one at Dan, and the 
other at Bethel, and proclaimed, " These are thy Gods, O 
Israel, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt.'' 1 Be- 
sides, he knew that Jehovah would pardon an adulterer, or 
murder, as he had done in the case of David ; but on no ac- 
count did he ever forgive the sin of idolatry. 

There is nothing improbable in admitting that the tribes 
should split into two kingdoms, and have different rulers. 
This has often been the case ; but the only way to account 
for the conduct of Jeroboam is, by concluding that he knew 
the whole to be a trick, and that neither Jehovah, nor any 
other God, had a hand in the putting up or dethroning of 
Kings. This being admitted, we can see clearly through 
the whole matter. Jeroboam then would, from policy, set 
up a new religion, or revive an old one, so as to keep his 



§Q THE REIGN OF JEROBOAM, 

subjects from mixing with their old acquaintances of the 
kingdom of Judah. It is utterly impossible for Jeroboam to 
have acted as is recorded, if he in truth believed that the 
only true and living God was his benefactor, and had raised 
him to regal authority. 

The second reason why Infinite Wisdom had nothing to 
do in the elevation of Jeroboam, is, because he must have 
foreseen that Jeroboam would have made the matter worse, 
so far as idolatry was concerned ; and this will appear the 
more striking by the first act of his reign. As soon as Jero- 
boam came to the throne, he (contrary to the law of Moses) 
set up images, and made priests of the lower orders of the 
people, and began himself to worship in the character and 
office of a priest ; for which, a prophet from Judah is sent 
(by the God who, it is said, gave Solomon the kingdom of 
Israel) to curse the altar at the time Jeroboam was in the 
act of sacrificing. Now the conduct of the prophet so sent, 
will enable us to see through the whole farce. This is re- 
corded in 1 Kings, chapter xiii. 

The following is in substance the prophet's mission: — 
This man of God was sent by Jehovah to cry against and 
curse the altar at the time Jeroboam was performing sacri- 
fice ; and being at the altar, he ordered his officers to lay 
hold of the prophet, at the same time pointing to him ; and 
instantly the King's arm became useless, and could not be 
drawn into its proper place. Jeroboam then cried to the 
man of God to pray that his arm might be restored. The 
man of God besought the Lord, and a recovery took place. 
Here, then, was a miracle performed ; and Jeroboam, being 
grateful, invited the prophet home to reward him by an en- 
tertainment of bread and water; but the man of God re- 
fused, by saying, that he was ordered by the Lord not to 
eat bread nor to drink water — in fact, to make no friendship 
whatever, but to return. Off, therefore, he went, after he 
had performed two miracles ; one of which was, to cause 
Jeroboam to lose the use of his arm ; the other, to restore it. 
The prophet, on his way back, was met by a man who made 
the same request, namely, to go home with him. and eat and 



AND THE SEPARATION OF ISRAEL FROM JUDAH. g^ 

drink ; but the man of God still refused. The man who 
thus enticed him, further said, I am also a prophet, and u an 
angel spake unto me by the word of the Lord, saying, bring 
him back into thine house, that he may eat bread and drink 
water. But he lied unto him." 

The lying prophet was in the service of Jeroboam, King 
of Israel ; but the man of God, who came to cry against the 
altar, belonged to the kingdom of Judah. The man of God, 
who understood that his first orders were countermanded, 
went home with the lying prophet, and did eat and drink. 
The reader will now notice the following three verses in 
1 Kings xiii., 20, 21, 22 : — ''And it came to pass, as they sat 
at the table, that the word of the Lord came unto the prophet 
that brought him back : And he cried tmto the man of God 
that came from Judah, saying, Thus saith the Lord, Foras- 
much as thou hast disobeyed the mouth of the Lord, and hast 
not kept the commandment which the Lord thy God com- 
manded thee, but earnest back, and hast eaten bread and 
drank water in the place of which the Lord did say to thee, 
Eat no bread, and drink no icater ; thy cai^cass shall not 
come unto the sepulchre of thy fathers" If men would but 
exercise their reason, is it possible for them to believe that 
the Sovereign Ruler of all had any concern in so paltry a 
transaction as this? 

The sum of the whole account may be expressed in a few 
words. The first prophet came to Jeroboam, by order of the 
Lord, to curse the altar. He then and there performed two 
miracles, as proof that his commission was Divine. He 
then departed. All was so far right ; but, on meeting an- 
other prophet, he was told, in so many words, that things 
were changed, and that he might do now that which he was 
ordered not to do when he first set out. But the old prophet 
of Jeroboam, we are told, was a liar ; and when they sat at 
meat, the word of the Lord came to the lying prophet and 
gave him orders to condemn the first. So that the Lord first 
employed an honest servant, who performed his errand faith- 
fully, and then took into his service a false prophet and a 
liar ! Believe this who can ! 



§2 THE REIGN OF JEROBOAM, 

It is possible that Jeroboam may have been King over Is- 
rael : this is not the point in dispute ; but that Infinite Wis- 
dom appointed him, cannot possibly be true, because he was 
made King in consequence of Solomon's idolatry. Solomon 
did not, by sinning himself, corrupt the whole nation ; but 
Jeroboam set up false gods, and the people followed his ex- 
ample, so that the worship of Jehovah, by the ten tribes, 
was entirely abandoned. Such blundering cannot be admit- 
ted, if the true and living God is to be considered as the 
projector. Besides, Jeroboam was not cured of his error by 
reformation, although he had been an eye-witness of the 
miracles performed on his own person. Enough, then, has 
been said to prove, that the whole account of God's making 
Jeroboam King over Israel, is without any solid foundation. 

We will now turn to the man of God who came to curse 
the altar, and we shall be able to discover what we are to 
understand by the word of the Lord coming unto this or 
that man, saying. And here I call on the reader to keep in 
mind, that in many places in the Bible, when any thing un- 
fortunate occurred to Jehovah's chosen people, such as the 
Lord raised up such and such enemies, and also that such 
misfortunes were from the Lord : also, again, an evil spirit 
from the Lord came on Said; — all such passages, and many 
others, mean no more than that the Lord permitted such 
events to take place. In this sense, we may say that it was 
from the Lord that Andrew Jackson destroyed a great part 
of the English army ; but no man is foolish enough to sup- 
pose that the Lord had directly any thing to do in the de- 
fence of New Orleans. Again, it is repeated in hundreds of 
places in the Bible, that the tvord of the Lord came to this or 
that person, saying. Now, apply this interpretation to '-the 
word of the Lord came unto Moses," and all that can be 
made of it is, that Moses ascribed every order he gave of his 
to the people, as coming from the Lord. It is in several 
places recorded that the word of the Lord came to one 
prophet of Judah, and then this said word was taken away 
from the first person, and turned over to another prophet 
who belonged to Israel ; and in 1 Kings xxii., 24, it is re- 



AND THE SEPARATION OF ISRAEL FROM JUDAH. gg 

corded, that one prophet smote another on the face, and said, 
l( Which way went the Spirit of the Lord from me to speak 
unto thee?" Nothing can be more clear, than that the whole 
of the Lord's interference is out of the question. 

After Israel and Judah were divided, they continued as 
two separate governments, with each a King for a leader. 
Sometimes they fought against each other, calling in other 
Kings to assist them ; at other times, they were united and 
fought together to oppose the common enemy, their heathen 
neighbors. In a war with the Syrians, when Jehoshaphat, 
King of Judah, and Ahab, King of Israel, united their armies 
against the Syrians, and being on the eve of battle, an in- 
quiry was made of the Lord's prophets, as to what success 
they would have? Ahab, the King of Israel, called his 
prophets, four hundred in number, and, on being consulted as 
to the result of a battle, they one and all said, go fight, for 
the Lord will deliver your enemies into your hands. Jeho- 
shaphat, being more cautious, said, is there not another 
prophet of whom we may inquire of the Lord? And the 
King of Israel (Ahab) said, there is ; but I do not like him, 
because he always foretells something to my disadvantage. 
Then Micaiah, a prophet of the kingdom of Judah, was 
called, and he foretold that the event of a battle would be 
favorable to these kings; but that Ahab would be slain. 
One of Ahab's prophets then became enraged, and smote 
Micaiah on the face, and sneeringly asked him, " Which 
way went the Spirit of the Lord from me to speak to thee ? " 

We have here a sample of the prophets on each side 
They one and all appear to be ready to lie, and deceive each 
other, in the name of the Lord, and also, to fight for their 
employers. In this account, it is also recorded that the God 
of truth accepted of the services of a lying spirit, to deceive 
four hundred prophets, in order to get rid of a wicked king, 
the whole account of which is to be found in 1 Kings, chap- 
ter xxii. 

After the tribes were separated, it was common for the 
prophets to oppose each other. The kings, also, of each na- 
tion aided in the destruction of the prophets, and were wor- 



34 THE REIGN OF JEROBOAM, 

shippers of strange gods. And yet it is recorded, that Jeho- 
vah chose Jeroboam to be king over Israel, — the very man 
who introduced the worship of idols, to the entire exclusion 
of the worship of the God of Abram ! This choice of Je- 
hovah laid the foundation of scenes of bloodshed too horrid 
to be ascribed to the all- wise Author of Nature. It could 
not have been worse, had the Devil been the chooser. 

For years after the Israelites became two distinct nations, 
we read of little else than quarrels and bloodshed ; and the 
prophets of Judah (called the prophets of Jehovah) were 
much worse than those called false prophets. This can be 
easily accounted for, as the Jewish religion was then the 
most intolerant of any on earth. The Kings of Judah gave 
orders, in the name of the Lord, to destroy all the heathen, 
as the enemies of Jehovah. The prophets followed up the 
same practice ; at the same time, the prophets of the heathen 
gods were less cruel, and, morally speaking, much better 
men. According to what is recorded, whenever power was 
in the hands of the Kings of Judah, or their prophets, no 
mercy was shown to the opposite party ; and as to prophets, 
they seemed to spring up like mushrooms, for it was often 
inquired by kings, is there not a man of God here 1 

A few remarks on the prophets of those times may be 
here made. Elijah seems to have had delegated to him al- 
most unlimited power ; for lo ! he, under pretence of having 
orders from Jehovah, anointed kings agreeably to his pre- 
tended orders. He then foretold what the Lord intended 
should be done to certain kings and their families. Those 
kings, then, thus anointed by the authority of Elijah, re- 
ceived orders to destroy such and such families; so that 
after Jehovah had separated the Israelites into two king- 
doms by setting up Jeroboam, nothing but cruelty and mur- 
der followed, in consequencce of the Lord's making so bad 
a choice. 

It would, judging from what transpired, have been better 
not to have changed the dynasty, but to let Solomon's heirs 
continued to have reigned over the whole of the Israelitish 
nation ; for in this state of Jewish history, idolatry, murder, 



AND THE SEPARATION OF ISRAEL FROM JUDAH. 35 

carnage, and every bad passion was let loose ; and the kings 
of each nation of the Jews, by the direction of these upstart 
prophets, showed no mercy to those of their brethren who 
had, by the fortune of war, fallen into their power. All this 
horrid state of things originated from Jeroboam being made 
king, and setting up idolatry throughout the land. Can we 
then admit, for a moment, that the Sovereign Ruler of all 
brought on such a wretched state of things, or ascribe to 
him so foolish a choice as the appointment of Jeroboam to 
be King of Israel 1 No ! it is utterly impossible. 

But to return to the prophets. Elijah and Elisha were, at 
this time, the Lord's servants. Elijah was foremost, and 
Elisha acted as his servant. The following circumstance 
brought Elijah into direct conflict with the kingdom of Is- 
rael, and the then called false prophets: — Ahaziah, then 
King of Israel and Samaria, met with an accident, and was 
sick ; and he sent messengers to inquire of Baal-zebub 
whether he would recover or not. Now, Elijah was sent ? 
or, he said he was sent, to say to the messenger, "Is it be- 
cause there is not a God in Israel, that thou sendest to inquire 
of Baal-zebub, the god of Ekron ? * The King of Israel 
then inquired what sort of a man it was who thus remon- 
strated with the messenger ? And from the account given, 
he found it to be Elijah, the prophet of Judah ; consequently 
a prophet of the Lord. Elijah was sitting on a hill, and the 
king sent a captain and fifty men to bring him before him ; 
and this was the order : — "Thou man of God, the king hath 
said, Come doion. And Elijah answered, and said to the 
captain of fifty, If I be a man of God, then let fire come 
down from heaven and consume thee and thy fifty. And 
there came down fire from heaven and consumed him and his 
fifty." And again, another captain and fifty went, and 
shared the same fate. Then the third captain and fifty were 
sent ; but the captain of the last fifty fell on his knees before 
the prophet, and begged for his life, and for the lives of his 
men. The Lord then ordered Elijah to go down with the 
captain to the king. 

Now I ask the reader, if his mind is prepared to believe that 
8 



g5 THE REIGN OF JEROBOAM, 

these two slaughters, consisting of one hundred men, with 
their two captains, were brought on them by fire from hea- 
ven, as a judgment? What was their crime? They acted 
as they were ordered by the king. Here we may discover 
the falsity of the statement ; for if any punishment was to 
follow in sending for the prophet, ought not Ahaziah to have 
been the victim? This wanton shedding of blood, by the 
mere calling down from heaven judgments, by an old fellow 
wrapped up in a bear's-skin, and called a man of God, is 
too barefaced a he for the present state of society. There 
is not one word of truth in the whole marvellous story. Je- 
hovah's murdering the people for the vices of their rulers, is 
anti-republican ; and if men would consult their reason, and 
employ common sense, the Christian priesthood would be 
ashamed to preach of a God of mercy, and, at the same 
time, ascribe to him injustice and cruelty. 

Elijah and his man Friday, Elisha, appear to be two of 
the most cruel of all the band of pretended men of God. 
They, according to what is recorded, seem to have had a 
sort of general license to kill and destroy every thing that 
came in their way. All the prophets and worshippers of the 
god Baal-zebub, the then worship of the kingdom of Israel 
and Samaria, were put to death by the stratagem and order 
of Elijah; and after him, Elisha received an affront by 
being called " old bald head" and for this great offence, the 
Lord sent two she bears out of the woods, and devoured 
forty and two little children ! The nonsense of the Koran 
cannot come up to this account. During the lives of Elijah 
and Elisha, Jehovah could attend to little else than their con- 
cerns, for they were forever praying for something to incom- 
mode or destroy human beings. 

What man is there, at the present day, who can believe 
that the Author of Nature gave to a mortal, power to with- 
hold the rain or the dews of heaven from descending on the 
earth, as is recorded was given to Elijah, who told Ahab, 
King of Israel, (1 Kings xvii.. 1,) " As the Lord God of Is- 
rael liveth, before whom I stand, there shall not be dew nor 
rain these years , but according- to my words" ? This mira- 



AND THE SEPARATION OF ISRAEL FROM JUDAH. g^ 

cle is referred to by a New Testament writer, but it is not the 
more true on that account. I have, however, said enough 
of Elijah, and, as he is about to go up into heaven, I have 
no wish to follow him. 

I will only mention his ascension. It appears that all the 
towns and villages round about had heard, by what means 
I know not, that Elijah was soon to be taken up into heaven; 
for wherever he and Elisha went, the people said unto Elisha, 
know you not that Elijah is about to be taken from you ? and 
Elisha nodded an assent, and said, "hold your -peace" It 
appears as if Elijah endeavored to evade Elisha' s presence 
when he would be taken up ; but Elisha stuck to him until 
up he went in a chariot of fire, with horses of the same; and 
Elisha saw it, and cried out, " My father, my father, the 
choiriot of Israel, and the horsemen thereof!" In going up, 
his mantle fell off, Elisha taking it, and with it, the pro- 
phetic spirit of his master. Elisha then followed on in the 
footsteps of his predecessor ; and his first act was, to call on 
his' God to destroy some little children, for the enormous 
crime of calling so odd a looking fellow, " old bald head." 
In truth, we discover in most of the prophets such a spirit of 
intolerance and rage towards those who were so unfortunate 
as to differ from or oppose them, that they ought to be con- 
sidered prophets of the Devil, and not servants of him whose 
wisdom, power and goodness are stamped on all the works 
of this mighty universe. 

The prophet Jonah seems to have been a man every way 
unfit for the prophetic service ; for when ordered to go to 
Nineveh, to cry against the wickedness of its inhabitants, he 
ran away; and, according to the record, his disobedience 
produced a violent storm, and when the sailors found that 
he was out of his road to Nineveh, they cast lots to find out 
the person who had caused the storm, and the lot fell on Jo- 
nah, who confessed himself to be the guilty person. He 
then told them to cast him into the sea, as the only way to 
save themselves and the ship. It is written what followed. 
Another blunder again in the choice of Jonah ; and miracles 
must be performed to cause this run-away prophet to reach 



gg THE REIGN OF JEROBOAM, 

his destination. He then again made an attempt to preach 
repentance to the Ninevites; and they, hearing of the de* 
struction against them, repented, and this made the prophet 
stark mad ; for his consequence as a prophet being hurt, he 
exclaimed, that he was tired of life. Poor, paltry trash for 
the employment of a God, to reason with and coax a hot- 
headed creature like Jonah ! but, like all the rest of such 
tales, there is not one word of truth in the whole concern. 

Before taking leave of the prophets of the Old Testament, 
a few remarks may suffice to point out their real character. 
From the time that Jehovah adopted the seed of Abram for 
his chosen people, nothing but trouble and vexation on his 
part occurred ; and on the part of the descendants of Abram, 
Isaac, and Jacob, one disaster after another followed in quick 
succession. Under whatever form of government they lived, 
they strayed from his commands, and in spite of his watch- 
fulness, his chosen people would worship strange gods, for 
which offence they were punished. Heathen kings wsre 
stirred up against them, and their subjugation was the con- 
sequence. They then cried unto the Lord, and matters 
were made up for a while. The same scenes again took 
place, and punishments followed. From the beginning of the 
Jewish dispensation until it ended, there was continual quar- 
relling between Jehovah and his favorites, and some of those 
quarrels were so contemptible that they would disgrace a 
foolish old man and a peevish wife disputing how the fire- 
brands should be put together, by an evening fire-side. The 
prophets, also, partook of the same spirit ; they abused each 
other, and sometimes came to blows: they would lie and 
deceive in the name of the Lord. 

But the worst part of the Jewish dispensation commenced 
with the reign of their kings. Saul was first chosen by Je- 
hovah himself; and, admitting the account to be true, the 
only crime that is laid to his charge is, the sparing of Agag, 
the King of the Amalekites, although he had destroyed every 
other being, both old and young. For this one act of hu- 
manity, Saul and his family were rejected by Johovah. 
David, his successor, obeyed the Lord in all things respect- 



AND THE SEPARATION OF ISRAEL FROM JUDAH. §9 

ing religious worship ; but he committed adultery and mur- 
der, thereby forfeiting his life by the law of Moses. But he 
was forgiven, and the child, the fruit of his adulterous inter- 
course, was, by the Lord of Hosts, destroyed. Solomon, his 
son, and the son also of his companion in guilt, was made 
king. Solomon worshipped idols at times, throughout his 
reign, and Jehovah was angry, and resolved to try another 
line of kings. Jeroboam was then anointed king over ten 
tribes, and the family of Abram, Isaac, and Jacob were split 
in twain. 

Now, mark ! This separation was in consequence of Solo- 
mon' s idolatry. We might expect, judging from Jehovah's 
former disappointment, that Jeroboam would entirely devote 
himself and his people to the worship of the God of Israel. 
But, behold ! Jeroboam began with setting up two golden 
calves, in direct opposition to the law of Moses, and also to 
the command of Jehovah, who had raised him from a state 
of servitude to sit on a throne. Solomon only at times de- 
parted from the Lord, but Jeroboam excluded every vestige 
of the worship of Jehovah from his kingdom. This, then, 
is a just statement of the conduct of those kings selected by 
the Lord of Hosts, as recorded in the Old Testament. And 
can it be possible that Infinite Wisdom should have been 
thus disappointed by those whom he had chosen ? The just 
conclusion, then, is, that the Ruler of all worlds had no con- 
cern in putting up or pulling down any of the Kings of Israel 
or Judah. The history is, from first to last, a cheat on the 
human race, and blasphemy against the only true God. 

From the time that Jeroboam was made king until the 
tribes were carried away into captivity, idolatry was the sin 
complained of by all the prophets ; it was the constant bur- 
den of all their prophecies ; and the prophets, one and all, 
intermixed with their complaints the prediction that the 
Lord had not entirely cast them off, but that the time would 
come when he would raise tip unto them a prophet like unto 
Moses. Such predictions, often repeated by all the prophets, 
together with continued references to their future renovation 
8* 



90 ON DIVINE INSPIRATION. 

and restoration, is what caused a general expectation of 
some mighty deliverer that would, in the fullness of time^ 
appear among them. 



CHAPTER VIII. 

ON DIVINE INSPIRATION. 

I intended to conclude the review of the Old Testament 
by examining the passages supposed to be prophetical of 
Jesus Christ, and, as such, quoted by the writers of the New 
Testament; but as that has already been done, in a masterly 
manner, by Mr. Thomas Paine, and as his opinion respecting 
them coincides entirely with my own, I beg leave to refer 
my readers to the work of that able writer on the subject. 
Professing Christians believe that what are called the five 
Books of Moses were given by divine inspiration. I shall, 
therefore, in this chapter, consider what is to be understood 
by divine inspiration, abstractly considered, and also with 
reference to prophecy and miracles. It is contended that 
Moses wrote the account of the Creation, and that it is true. 
If so, then all the particulars of that remote age must have 
been given to the writer by nothing short of Supreme Intel- 
ligence. I ask. how was this information communicated? 
The Christian answers — by inspiration. This does not 
solve the difficulty. I therefore ask, what is inspiration? 

Divine inspiration, according to the Christian's idea of it, 
must have been the source of prophecy and miracles, and 
implies infinite knowledge and power. Now, as Adam 
could not have given an account of his own origin, whoever 
wrote the history of the creation of the world, and of our 
first parents, must, if divinely inspired, have had all the 
particulars of the past clearly made known to him. We 



ON DIVINE INSPIRATION. 91 

are told, by the New Testament writers, that "all Scripture 
is given by inspiration"; and again, that "Holy men of old- 
spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.'' 1 Still, divine 
inspiration remains an inscrutable mystery as to what it is 
abstractly considered ; and, also, with respect to the manner 
in which it is communicated. It seems strange, to say the 
least, that divine revelation should be given to the human 
race by the means of inspiration, and yet the mode of com- 
munication be enveloped in profound mystery. As divine 
inspiration and divine revelation are closely connected, the 
first being the avenue of conveyance, and the latter being 
the subject communicated, I shall define, as clearly as I can, 
what constitutes divine revelation ; but in order, if possible, 
to prevent mistake, I shall first point out what it is not. 

The developments and improvements which man effects 
by the exercise of his perceptive and reflective faculties, are 
results which are not obtained through the medium of di- 
vine revelation. From being a savage, and wandering in a 
state of destitution in the forests, he has, by the use of his 
varied faculties, made advances in civilization and the arts, 
which at first sight appear superhuman, but which were, 
nevertheless, unaided by divine revelation. Contrasting the 
present state of the wonderful and awe-inspiring science of 
astronomy with that when the best informed of the human 
race were but ignorant star-gazers, we can but feel proud 
that we are a part of the human family. Again, when we 
look back at the period when the frail little bark could not 
venture out of sight of land, and then contemplate the im- 
provements in naval architecture of our present times, which 
have presented us with that splendid floating palace, the 
Great Britain steam-ship, we can but see that all this has 
been effected without any assistance from divine revelation. 
If, at some future time, by means of improvements in the 
telescope, inhabitants should be discovered in the moon, we 
should not be indebted for the discovery to divine revelation. 
But, the discovery not having been made, should an angel 
be sent from heaven to make known the fact, such informa- 
tion would undoubtedly constitute a divine revelation. So, 



Q2 ON DIVINE INSPIRATION* 

then, it is clear that whatever improvement man may make, 
by the unaided exercise of his faculties, cannot be considered 
as the result of divine revelation. Divine revelation is that 
which man cannot know, consequently never has known, 
and never will know by the aid of his reasoning powers. 
The Old and New Testaments collectively are called a divine 
revelation; and that the information these books contain, 
respecting man's duty to his Maker, came from the Almighty 
Ruler of the universe, is the Christian's view of the matter. 

We will now examine the various inlets, or avenues, by 
which divine revelation is said to have been communicated 
to man. According to the scriptures, the first in order is, 
that God himself conversed with men; — secondly, by the me- 
dium of angels; — thirdly, by inspired prophets; — fourthly, 
by dreams; — fifthly, by visions; — and lastly, by his son. 
These are the principal inlets. We will examine these dif- 
ferent modes, and make such remarks as are applicable to 
each. First, then, as to the assumption that God himself 
conversed with men. It is recorded that he appeared to, and 
conversed with, our first parents ; also with Noah, Abram, 
Moses, and even Balaam. The Deity's conversing with 
Adam and Eve may be considered as the commencement of 
divine revelation. With respect to the truth of these conver- 
sations, and the remarkable appearances connected with 
them, no positive testimony can be adduced either for or 
against ; we must therefore take reason for our guide in the 
examination. We begin, then, by observing, that if such 
events did actually occur, it is clear that God was accessible 
to man in those days, and that in a manner very different to 
what he is in our own times; and, also, that the unknown 
and invisible being could be approached on the most trifling 
occasions. 

No good having ever resulted to man from such visits from 
the Great Author of all things, is proof presumptive that they 
never took place. So far from any moral good having resulted 
to Adam and Eve from their daily intercourse with Jehovah, 
we find in the case of Eve, that, being seduced, either by the 
serpent, or her own vicious inclination, she ate the forbidden 



ON DIVINE INSPIRATION. 93 

fruit. The ejectment of our first parents from the garden of 
Eden, would seem to warrant us in believing that the Lord 
watched over them for evil, and not for good. A pair of 
human beings brought into existence without experience | of 
the past, or knowledge of the future, must stand much in 
need of instruction from their Creator ; and yet the result of 
all the recorded intercourse was, they became disobedient ; 
and were driven out of the garden provided for them by no less 
a being than the Author of the universe. Had the Bible-makers 
arranged the story so as to have made the conversations and 
intercourse result in the continuance of our first parents in the 
garden, the account would have borne some resemblance to 
truth : but to represent it as having ended in their expulsion, is 
by far too large a draft upon human credulity, unless they can 
believe that God is what Christians declare the Devil to be. 

If the advocates for the authenticity of the Bible contend 
that the recorded intercourse between the Lord and our first 
parents is literally true, that view of the subject is attended 
with so many difficulties that it is almost impossible to give 
credit to it. But if they contend that it is an allegory, then 
the probability is that the account of the creation is altogether 
a fabulous tradition, consequently not a divine inspiration. 
When the Lord is represented as having appeared to Abram, 
or any of the renowned men of old, such appearances are not 
spoken of as being of uncommon occurrence, nor is any sur- 
prise manifested. The Lord is always represented as having 
appeared in a human form. Before the sceptic can believe 
in the reality of these visitations, he must know for what end 
they took place ; and, also, why the Lord should in the olden 
times be always ready to appear to, and converse with, his 
favorites, and in modern times altogether discontinue his 
visits, as if there were now nothing on earth worthy of his 
particular notice. 

The Bible informs us that three angels in the form of men 
appeared to Abram, and that one of them was called the 
Lord, the Judge of all the earth. They must have been in 
the likeness of men : for, they had their feet washed ; they 
dined with Abram, and the particular kind of food is men- 



94 0N DIVINE INSPIRATION. 

tioned, which in our day would be denominated veal and 
griddle-cake. And at this dinner the promise was confirmed 
that Abram and Sarah should be blessed with a son in their 
old age, and that from his descendants one should arise who 
should be for the healing of the nations. After dinner the 
Lord informed Abram that he had heard that Abram' s neigh- 
bors were extremely wicked, and that he and his companions 
had come to ascertain if the report were correct, and that the 
vengeance of Heaven was about to fall on Sodom and Gomor- 
rah for their crimes. The good old man plead hard for the 
inhabitants, saying, u Far be it from the Lord to slay the 
righteous with the wicked" and thereby in a slight degree 
averted the dreadful doom. The reader can peruse the 
account (Genesis, chapter xviii.,) and make his own com- 
ments. The writer could as soon believe that the moon is a 
large cheese, suspended in the firmament, as give credit to 
this contemptible story. If it should be asked, how Moses 
obtained his information as to what Abram had for dinner, 
the answer is, by inspiration. 

We will here notice two remarkable appearances of the 
Lord : one of them to Balaam, the other to Moses. A few 
remarks on each will suffice. Balaam was a conjuror, and 
a person of no small consequence in his day. He was applied 
to by the princes of Moab to prophesy evil against the Israel- 
ites. That whole nation, under the guidance of Moses, being 
in the act of marching through the land of Moab on their 
route to the land of promise, and having the character of 
making too free with other people's property, the princes of 
Moab hired Balaam to curse them. We are told that the 
heathen prophet judged it best to procure the permission of 
Jehovah, the God of the Jews, before he cursed his people. 
He, therefore, erected an altar on the top of a hill, and on it 
sacrificed seven bullocks and seven sheep. During the sacri- 
fice, the Lord of heaven and earth came down, and called 
the prophet aside from the presence of the princes of Moab, 
and forbade him to curse his people. The sacrifice was 
repeated thrice. On each occasion the Lord appeared to 
Balaam, giving him leave to go with the princes, but forbid- 



ON DIVINE INSPIRATION. gg 

ding him on any account to curse the Israelites. The remain- 
der of the tale is to be found in the history of Balaam. 

Now, can it be possible, that this account contains a parti- 
cle of truth? Can we suppose, that the unknown power, 
whom man calls God, presented himself at the altar of a hea- 
then necromancer, and, whispering in his ear, forbade him to 
perform his monkey tricks to the detriment of his chosen peo- 
ple ? And that three times he should descend from heaven 
to overawe the old trickster, as if he thought him capable of 
doing harm to the Israelites 1 This account is rendered more 
contemptible by being referred to by New Testament writers, 
although the scripture declares in many places that " no man 
can see God and live." Christians little think how largely 
their credulity is taxed when they are taught to believe that 
such accounts were given by divine inspiration. 

It is written in the book of Exodus, (chapter xxiv.,) that 
after the giving of the moral law on Mount Sinai, the Lord 
called Moses to the top of that remarkable place to give him 
instructions respecting the tabernacle and its paraphernalia. 
Moses remained there forty days, attending to the commands 
of Jehovah. The Lord, on a sudden, informed Moses that 
the Israelites had forsaken him, had set up a golden calf, and 
were in the act of worshipping before it and dancing for joy. 
Moses was ordered to go down. Before he left the mount, 
however, the Lord's anger waxed hot, and he told Moses not 
to plead for the wicked people. Jehovah, being about to 
destroy them, Moses besought him not to cut them off, and 
reminded him that, by so doing, the Egyptians would triumph 
and say that their God led them into the wilderness to destroy 
them. 

Moses also reminded Jehovah of the promises made to 
Abram, Isaac, and Jacob, respecting their posterity ; and by 
the arguments he made use of in favor of showing mercy to 
the Jewish people, at length prevailed on the Lord to suppress 
his anger. Having descended from the mount, Moses found 
the people half-naked, and dancing in a state of joyful excite- 
ment before the Golden Calf. The man who had but just 
before plead the cause of his brethren, and thereby prevented 



9Q ON DIVINE INSPIRATION. 

Jehovah's destroying the whole of the seed of Abram, found 
it less difficult to quiet the fury of an angry God, than to keep 
his own temper ; for, when he saw their idolatrous dancing 
and revelry, he lost all patience, and, throwing down the 
tables of stone on which the laws were written, made the 
inquiry, " Who is on the Lord's side? ' " The Levites in- 
stantly came forward and declared for the Lord. Moses or- 
dered every man to take his sword and slay his neighbor 
and friends who had rebelled against Jehovah, — a shocking 
slaughter ensued, for three thousand were slain on that day ! 
If this account could be credited, it would be truly har- 
rowing to the reflecting mind. To believers in Christianity, 
we would say, can you expect persons who depend on the 
exercise of their reason for the discovery of truth and the 
detection of error, to believe the account of the transactions 
of Jehovah and Moses on the mountain 1 Surely, you can- 
not. We give the following reasons why it is out of our 
power to believe it: — The narrative represents the Almighty 
Ruler of the Universe as possessing the same frailties as his 
creature, man. The Creator is forty days contriving (as- 
sisted by Moses) ornaments and decorations for his own 
worship. Before these were completed, the people, who 
were to be the worshippers, deserted their God, and either 
commenced a new religion or revived an old one. For a 
considerable time, Jehovah allows Moses to remain in igno- 
rance of what is going on at the foot of the mountain ; then, 
all of a sudden, informs him of it; in a burst of passion tells 
him to stand out of his way, so as to be no hindrance to 
him in pouring out his wrath; and seems determined to ex- 
terminate the whole race. Moses, less passionate than the 
Deity, argued strenuously in favor of his brethren, and 
pointed out to Jehovah two reasons why he ought to spare 
them : — first, that their extermination would break the 
promise made to Abram ; and secondly, that the Egyptians 
would exult in the destruction of their former slaves, Jeho- 
vah losing all the honor of having brought them out of 
bondage with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm. 






ON DIVINE INSPIRATION, 97 

Having thus cooled down Divine vengeance, Moses himself 
became the Jack Ketch, or executioner of his brethren. 

If this account had been found in any book but the Bible, 
not one person in a thousand would have believed it. It de- 
stroys the attributes of the God of all worlds, gives the lie to 
his foreknowledge and immutability, and then invests him 
with all the weakness, folly, and mutability of poor, frail, 
erring man. 

With respect to the dreams and visions, of which we find 
so many accounts in the Old and New Testaments, they are 
spoken of by the prophets as being the medium of divine in- 
spiration. One of them thus expresses himself: — u It shall 
come to pass in the last days, saith the Lord, that I wilt pour 
out my spirit on all flesh, and your sons and your daughters 
shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young 
men shall see visions." (Joel, chapter ii.) Now we know that 
dreams are not the result of divine inspiration. When we 
read that an angel appeared to a man of God, no more can 
be made of it than this: — the priest, or pretended prophet,, 
dreamed that an angel appeared to him, and conversed with 
him. 

I have many times dreamed of seeing my first wife, who. 
died upwards of forty years ago. If I were to insist that 
the dream was a reality, it would be considered by my 
friends that my mind was disordered; in short, that I was. 
insane. From dreams, we can obtain no correct ideas of 
realities. If persons, who are much subject to dreams, were 
to imagine that their dreams pointed to realities, they would 
be all their lifetime in pursuit of shadows. Dreams and 
visions would be very uncertain channels for the conveyance 
of divine revelations, for the supposed angel might be the 
servant of the Devil instead of a messenger from heaven. 

The writings in the Old Testament which are called 
prophecies, generally relate to the Jewish nation. How are 
we to know that they are prophecies ? In order that there 
may be no uncertainty with respect to a prophet's preten- 
sions, he should foretell something to come to pass in the 
lifetime of the persons to whom he declares the prophecy, 
9 



gg ON DIVINE INSPIRATION. 

stating the precise time and place, so that when fulfilled, it 
should be a million to one against its being the result of 
guess-work. It would then carry with it a convincing 
proof of being the result of divine inspiration. 

To show the dependence that can be placed on prophecies, 
we may refer to the Millerite delusion. The pretensions and 
extravagances of that sect were based on the prophecies of 
Daniel. I have heard many preachers, of acknowledged 
learning and talent, attempt to explain Daniel's prophecies 
with regard to the time of the second advent ; but they gen- 
erally differed in their views. About the year 1803, a 
preacher in London, (England,) of first rate abilities, told 
his congregation, a very large one, to keep in mind the year 
1833, for that he had, after the most laborious calculations, 
arrived at the conclusion that about that period, signs and 
wonders would indicate the near approach of him who is to 
come again in 'power and great glory. 

There is no doubt but hundreds of learned men have, 
since the time that Jesus is said to have left this world, con- 
sumed the -'midnight oil" in their researches to discover the 
time of the second advent, but to no purpose. To no pur- 
pose, did I say? I mistook. In the case of Miller, it was to a 
most unfortunate purpose. Thousands of his followers have 
been in a state of partial insanity ; many have been abso- 
lutely deranged : some have committed suicide ; others sold 
their lands, abandoned their occupations, neglected their 
wives and children, and will never regain their former 
happy homes. Can we suppose that the all- wise Ruler of 
the Universe would promulgate prophecies so uncertain with 
respect to their fulfilment, and so disastrous in the effects 
arising from their uncertainty? I repeat, that prophecy, to 
answer any good purpose, should be fulfilled in the lifetime 
of the persons to whom it is addressed • otherwise, the un- 
certainty attending it renders it worse than useless. 

If Daniel had been divinely inspired to foretell any thing 
relating to Christ, common sense suggests that it would 
have reference to his first appearance on earth. Instead of 
this being the burden of his prophecy, he makes no allusion 



ON DIVINE INSPIRATION. 99 

to his first coming, but, according to Christian expositors, 
his dreams and visions refer to the second coming of Christ, 
and the final judgment. Father Miller's bubble having 
burst, his sincere but deluded followers are in a state of ex- 
treme wretchedness ; all of them injured either in mind or 
circumstances, and most of them in both. Many of them 
will doubtless reject religion altogether. So much, then, for 
depending on divine inspiration. 

The power to perform miracles is included in the idea of 
divine inspiration, and implies the possession of a power su- 
perior to, all human power. The exhibition of a power by 
an individual, superior to what the united exertions of a 
whole nation could perform, ought to be credited to the ex- 
hibiter as a power received from on high, — a conclusion 
drawn by Christian commentators, and also by Jesus him- 
self, with respect to his recorded miracles ; for, he says — 
" If I had not done among them the works which no other 
man did, they loould not have had sin; but now [they having 
seen his miracles, and yet rejected him] their sin remaineth" 
Miracles are uncertain evidences of divine inspiration. 
What an ignorant man might deem to be a miracle, a man 
of intelligence and education might know to be the result of 
combined natural causes. What in one age has been cur- 
rently believed to have been the effect of supernatural 
agency, a succeeding and more enlightened age has known 
as the result of certain operations of nature. Nothing can 
justly be regarded as a miracle unless it be, past all dispute, 
beyond human power to perform. To suppose that the Deity 
makes use of means to promote the improvement of his crea- 
tures, which are calculated to mislead them, is to impeach 
Ins wisdom and goodness. 

Miracles could not have been evidences of divine interpo- 
sition to the Jewish people, at the time of Christ's appear- 
ance among them, owing to the prevailing belief that super- 
natural beings, called devils, could perform wonderful things, 
far above man's power or comprehension; and that some of 
them, more powerful than the rest^ could invest mortals with 



100 ON DIVINE INSPIRATION. 

the power of performing miracles of the same nature as those 
ascribed to Jesus Christ. 

Most of the religious sects at the present day affect to be 
influenced by something almost amounting to divine inspira- 
tion — their religion consisting of feelings, not of action. In 
the Scriptures we read, u If any man have not the spirit of 
Christ, he is none of his.'' 1 I have often noticed the variety 
of modes in which the spirit operates on different sects. The 
Methodists, while seeking the Lord, as they term it, will sigh, 
moan, and howl, and immediately after be in ecstasies bor- 
dering on insanity, and bawl so loud that a passer-by might 
reasonably conclude that some dreadful accident had be- 
fallen them. Passing to the other extreme, the Friends, or 
Quakers, are as dumb as mutes, and will not allow their 
speakers to open their lips until impelled to do so by the 
spirit. But the Jumpers, in Wales, (Great Britain,) go 
ahead of all, for they often perform the journey from their 
homes to their churches^ by the same kind of evolution as" 
frogs make when on their peregrinations in search of water. 
All these monkey tricks are of much easier performance than 
feeding the hungry, or clothing the destitute. Can, or, pre- 
suming that they can, will the preachers please inform us, 
which of these three modes of spiritual manifestation wilt 
be practised in heaven ? 

In concluding this chapter, 1 shall make some remarks on 
the Mormons, that being one of the last sects, of any impor- 
tance, which have arisen, professing the Christian faith. 
They also profess, or their leaders, at least, to be specially 
moved by the Holy Spirit ; in other words, that they are the 
recipients of divine inspiration. Whatever other denomina- 
tions of Christians may think of their claims to supernatural 
gifts, they are founded on quite as reasonable grounds as 
were the pretensions of the prophets of old, not even except- 
ing Moses, the Jewish legislator ; as a brief history of their 
rise and progress will prove. The following account, the 
writer had from some of the principal preachers of the Mor-. 
mon faith : — 

" About the year 1827, or '28, Joseph Smith, a young man 



ON DIVINE INSPIRATION. jQj_ 

<of obscure parentage, presented to the world a production 
which he called the Book of Mormon, or the Golden Bible ; 
and of which, according to his own account, he became pos- 
sessed in the following manner: — When about fifteen years 
of age, being under religious impressions, he used to retire 
to the fields and thickets in the neighborhood of his home, 
to exercise himself in prayer. One day, while thus engaged, 
an angel appeared to him, and informed him that the Lord 
had a great and important work for him to perform, but that 
the time had not yet arrived for its consummation. Then, 
after telling him that he would be again visited, and urging 
him to pursue a godly life, disappeared. A few years after 
this, the angel re-visited Joseph, repeating his declaration re- 
specting the contemplated work, and disappeared as before. 
At length, on a third appearance, the angel directed Joseph 
to go to a certain spot and dig in the earth, telling him that 
he would there find something of vast importance. Joseph 
did as the angel commanded, and found a number of golden 
plates, on which were impressed characters in a language to 
him altogether unknown. Having copied a portion of the 
characters, he sent the copy, by a friend, to a teacher of the 
dead languages, in New York, in order to ascertain the 
meaning ; but his friend returned without having obtained 
the desired information. The Holy Spirit then enabled Jo- 
seph to translate the inscriptions, and the translation is de- 
nominated the 'Book of Mormon,' being named after the 
person who, fourteen hundred years before, had, by Divine 
command, deposited it in the earth." This book can be ob^ 
tained of the Mormon preachers. 

The progress of the Mormons, or Latter-Day Saints, as 
they designate themselves, has been astonishingly rapid, 
their number being computed at no less than two hundred 
thousand, of whom about ten thousand are congregated in 
the city of Nauvoo, (or Joseph,) in the State of Illinois. 
This portion of the Mormons had previously located them- 
selves in the State of Missouri, but after suffering great per- 
secution, were driven out of that State by the inhabitants. 
They then settled in the western part of Illinois, and built 
9* 



J 02 ON DIVINE INSPIRATION. 

the city of Nauvoo, and have nearly completed a splendid 
temple of unique architecture. They, like the Jews, believe 
that they are God's chosen people, and that, as the earth is 
the Lord's, they shall have the honor of calling together the 
Jews, the former chosen people of God, and that all who have 
not then embraced the Mormon faith will be speedily cut off. 
As the Mormons make the Bible the ground-work of their 
religious belief, and are sparing in their allusions to the Book 
of Mormon, they are likely to become permanently established 
as a portion of the Christian world, and will probably become 
not only a very numerous, but also a powerful sect. 

But the demon of religious persecution — let me pause for 
a moment. I would not knowingly libel any thing, not even 
religion. Am I not mistaken? Not in- the personage, most 
certainly, but I may be in error with respect to his official 
character. Perhaps I owe an apology to the religious world. 
It may be the demon of fraud. At all events, a demon of some 
description is hovering over this remarkable people, and threat- 
ening them with vengeance. Their smoking and desolate 
homesteads will furnish matter for the future historian, who, 
with indignation, will record, that in the nineteenth century, 
in the favored land of Illinois, the ennobling principles of lib- 
erty could boast of no better recognition than an empty name. 
Give ear, ye advocates of liberty in the down-trodden nations 
of Europe ! A voice would address you from the land of 
promise. Ten thousand men, women, and children in the 
State of Illinois, can receive no protection from the Genius of 
Liberty, but in the coming spring are to be driven from their 
peaceful happy homes, to wend their way through a dreary 
wilderness, and seek a resting place on the shores of the 
Pacific Ocean. " Oh ! shame ! where is thy blush % " Cannot 
even tottering age, and helpless infancy, arrest the fell 
purpose ? 

The present position of the Mormons, with respect to the 
rest of the world, so nearly resembles that of the Jews when 
they were leaving Egypt, that it is not unlikely for them to 
assimilate their movements in a measure to those of the 
Israelites, and, believing, as they do, that they are influenced 



ON DIVINE INSPIRATION. ^Qg 

by the Holy Ghost, their historians some centuries hence will 
probably record miracles as having been performed by the 
Mormons, similar to what are said to have taken place among 
the Jews, when travelling, under the guidance of Moses, to 
the promised land. Feebleness of body reminds me that 
Death is shaking his arrow over me, but surely my mind 
remains unclouded. Am I really living in the enlightened 
nineteenth century? And if so, am I on the free soil of 
America, or in barbarous Russia, and a subject of the 
Emperor Nicholas? 

The Mormons are to be driven out of the United States. 
Why? " Because they believe themselves to be God's chosen 
people, and that all other nations must become subject to 
them." Indeed! and do not the Jews entertain the same 
belief with respect to their nation? Are they to be driven out 
along with the Mormons? The Mormons are to be driven 
out. Why? " Because they speak in an unknown tongue." 
But a few years ago, the disciples of Irving, a celebrated 
preacher in London, spoke in an unknown tongue; but so far 
from their being driven out of the country in consequence, 
the ministrations of Irving were attended by the principal 
nobility and statesmen of Great Britain. The Mormons are 
to be driven out. Why? " Not on account of their religious 
faith, but because they are a community of thieves." In the 
English navy the seamen have a very contemptuous idea of 
the marines, and when a very improbable story is told by any 
one, they say, "Tell that to the marines," intimating that 
they are weak enough to believe any thing. 

We are told that a religious community which numbers 
ten thousand persons is composed of incorrigible rogues. And 
yet it is well known that they are very industrious, have well 
cultivated farms, have built a city, and nearly completed a 
splendid temple. What says the experience of the world with 
respect to thieves — that they have been usually found among 
the industrious, or the idle? What are we called upon to 
believe? That a highly industrious religious sect, numbering 
ten thousand souls, manifests such a total disregard of all 
moral principle that its existence cannot be allowed in civil- 



JQ4 0N DIVI NE INSPIRATION. 

ized society ? Tell it not in Gath ! Oh ! no ; better tell it to 
the marines. 

I do believe that I am in America, and not in Russia, after 
all. The film is departing from my mental vision. An idea 
strikes me. It is this. In this country, under certain circum- 
stances, loell understood by the public, bills of exceptions are 
frequently filed. Aye, now I have it. This is a Republic; 
and a Republic is a government intended for the benefit of 
all, with the exception of the Mormons to-day, and of some 
other religious sect to-morrow; and so on, as avarice, or 
bigotry, or the tyranny of a moneyed aristocracy may dictate, 
to the end of the chapter. 

The republicans of the State of Illinois have determined 
that the Mormons shall not remain among them. "Oh! 
consistency, thou art indeed a jewel." For the benefit of 
persons visiting Illinois, 1 shall close with a quotation from 
the Old Testament, not remarkable, perhaps, for elegance of 
diction, but having a claim to attention for its truthfulness. 
It is this: — "It is useless to search for a jewel in a swine's 
snout" 



END OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. 



THE NEW TESTAMENT, 



INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER. 

Ott THE FACTS AND PERSONAGES OF THE 
NEW TESTAMENT, 

To those persons who can take, without fear, a correct 
view of Jehovah's dealings with his chosen people, as recorded 
in the Old Testament, it must appear, that the Jews, as a 
nation, did not, in any way, do honor to his choice ; for, as 
it regards religion, they neither were at any length of time 
faithful to Jehovah, nor did they obey his laws. The dread- 
ful punishments inflicted on them, together with the teaching 
of the Prophets, did not cure them, so as to prevent them 
from worshipping other gods. 

To men of common sense, it is clear that the Jewish God 
undertook to make of the seed of Abram that which never 
took place. The attempts to keep them as true worshippers 
of Jehovah, continually failed ; and he, in the language of 
regret and complaint, says: — " I have nourished and brought 
up children, and they have labelled against meP And here 
we may inquire, how were they brought up? The answer 
is at hand. They were taught to consider themselves, as a 
nation, more valuable than any people on earth; and this 
pride caused them to act with hostility in their intercourse 
with the Gentiles, and to rob and murder all nations less 
powerful than themselves ; for doing which, they had from 
the Lord a direct order. To show mercy was forbidden, and 
they were punished for so doing. The command was — 



1Q5 FACTS AND PERSONAGES OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. 

11 Thou shalt do no murder." This command had to do with 
Jews only. To others it was said, " Spare not a sold alive." 
Again, " Thou shalt not steal" — that is, from Jews: from 
all heathens, steal all you can. " Thou shalt not covet thy 
neighbors wife" fyc. Remember! — the wife of a Jew; 
but when the Lord commands, you must murder other 
men's wives, and take their daughters for the most wicked 
purposes. This is the manner the seed of Abram were 
brought up; and, in these particulars, they seldom disobeyed 
the Lord. 

In this manner the Jews were educated by the Lord of 
Hosts. Can we then wonder that they, in a moral point of 
view, should have been the most cruel and wicked of any 
nation on earth 1 It follows, that they were a disgrace to 
that God who selected them as his own ; and the Jewish 
dispensation ended in a complete failure: so that it is re- 
corded, that the Lord " hateth his own inheritance." Jeho- 
vah failed to rear up and protect a nation who should serve 
as a pattern to the rest of the human family. They are ac- 
knowledged, by both God and man, to have been the worst 
people on earth. 

We are now about to consider another attempt, on the part 
of the God of Israel, to recover and convert his disobedient 
people to the new covenant, or dispensation, by sending the 
long-expected Saviour of the seed of Abram, according to 
the flesh. Here we ought to expect that a double degree of 
caution will be manifest on the part of the Jewish God, so 
that no mistake may happen to the Jewish nation in their 
reception of, and obedience to, his Son, as an ambassador of 
peace and reconciliation; because, if the mission of Jesus 
was not clearly understood by the Jews, another scene of 
trouble, more dreadful than their former disobedience, would 
follow as a consequence. We ought to expect that Christ 
would be instructed so to present himself to his brethren, 
that his person and his plans for their recovery would be 
self-evident. No guess-work can be allowed, as it respects 
the vast importance of his mission, or the identity of his per- 
son. It needs no argument to show, that, when an end or 



FACTS AND PERSONAGES OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. IQJ 

object is to be fully obtained, the means must be adapted to 
answer the end intended, or a failure is the consequence. 

Here we may ask, for what purpose did Christ come to 
the Jews 1 Was it to fulfil the promises made to them by 
Jehovah, that he would make a neio covenant with them, and 
write his laws on their hearts ; not according to the covenant 
he made with their fathers, when he brought them out of 
Egypt, but that he would write his laws on their hearts, and 
their sins and iniquities remember no more, and that they 
should be to him a people, and that he would be to them a 
God? In fact, we cannot admit of the possibility of any 
mistake or failure to happen in Jehovah's plan of salvation, 
when we consider that the seed of Abram longed for and ex- 
pected the Great Deliverer of Israel. No trickery or deception 
ought to be resorted to in a case involving such dreadful con- 
sequences. It is highly dishonorable to the God of the Uni- 
verse, to admit of any double-dealing on his part, when his 
people were prepared to receive the Messiah. 

The situation of the Jews, as a nation, at the time it is 
said that Christ made his appearance among them, ought to 
be kept in view, in reading this introduction. They expected 
a king, or a deliverer, to arrive, agreeably to what they had 
learned from the Old Testament. Hence, their inquiry was, 
" Art thou he that should come, or do we, or are we, to look 
for another? " As much as to say, we long for his appear- 
ance, but we have had false Christs ; and the repeated im- 
positions practised on our nation makes us cautious as to 
giving credence to any pretender, without full proof of his 
being the true, the very anointed of God. No inquiry could 
be more reasonable ; for it is clear that the Jewish nation 
were open to conviction, and ready to receive with joy the 
sent of Jehovah ; but repeated deception and disappointment 
had made them slow to believe in the pretensions of any 
that came to them in the name of the Lord. 

We need not be surprised that the seed of Abram should 
have been so scrupulous in believing, until they had incon- 
trovertible proof that the hope of Israel had arrived. They 
considered that event as the end of all their troubles ; and 



103 FACTS AND PERSONAGES OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. 

relying on the promises made to God's chosen people by the 
prophets, — that the "sun of righteousnes should arise, with 
healing in his wings" that his identity would be as clearly 
known, and all obscurity entirely removed as to his being 
the true Christ, the hope and expectation of Israel. The 
Jews, as a nation, were not prepared for any thing short of 
a full manifestation of Jehovah's promises in the person of the 
Messiah, that he would be their "Prophet, Priest, and King." 
It is not possible to conceive that a single Jew could be found 
who would stretch forth his hand against the Lord's anointed. 
This, then, was the feeling and expectation of the Jews, at 
the time it is recorded that Christ came as the deliverer of 
Israel. It follows, then, that the only thing the Jews re- 
quired, in order to receive and obey Christ, was, unerring 
proof that Jesus was the promised Messiah : for they were 
earnestly waiting for that glorious event. 

We will now inquire, whether or not his introduction to 
the Jewish nation was ^the most probable way to convince 
them that the long-desired, the long-expected Redeemer of 
Israel was come? It must ever be kept in mind, that the 
coming of Christ was to the Israelites of vast importance, 
when we consider their former troubles, how they had been 
forsaken by their God, sold, as it were, into severe bondage, 
and scattered over the face of the earth, in consequence of 
their departure from the God of their fathers. To all which, 
it may be added, that they had been deceived by false 
Christs : so that, as a nation, they ought to, and doubtless 
did, fully expect that the true Messiah, on his arrival, would 
convince every real Jew that he was the sent of God, and 
that the evidence would be different, in all respects, from 
what had before attended impostors and cheats. Of all the 
embassies ever sent by one nation to another, none ever 
equalled in importance the one where the Son, the only Son 
of God, was the ambassador. 

In the intercourse between nations, and when a minister 
is sent out from one nation to another, one thing is always 
provided for, and on no account is it ever omitted, namely : — 
proper credentials are always prepared and sent by one na- 



FACTS AND PERSONAGES OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. ^Qg 

tion to another, so that the identity of the ambassador is in- 
disputable. This indispensable qualification appears to have 
been omitted in sending Christ to the Jewish nation, and it 
proved most unfortunate to those ill-fated people ; for it is 
evident, from Scripture, that they mistook Jesus for an im- 
postor, since one of the apostles admits, that if they (the 
Jews) had known him, " they would not have killed the Lord 
of life and glory P 

Here, then, was the fatal mistake, the unfortunate error ; 
and now we may ask, for what was Jesus sent ? Jehovah 
knew that they would not receive him, and that a failure 
would be the consequence. But if Jehovah did not know 
of his rejection, what then are we to say of the attributes 
of the God of Israel? Taking either side, involves the 
greatest absurdity, and is shocking to every idea we can 
have of infinite wisdom, power, and goodness. 

If Jesus, on his arrival to the Jews as a nation, intended 
to prove his divine mission by the performance of miracles, 
he appears to have taken the wrong course to carry convic- 
tion to the minds of his fellow countrymen. Instead of per- 
forming signs and wonders before the most learned of his 
nation, he associated with the most ignorant classes of so- 
ciety. These were chiefly fishermen, who could be easily 
imposed on by any sleight of hand, performed by a dexterous 
juggler. It was to the most learned and competent men of 
that day to whom his appeals ought to have been made ; but 
on the contrary, he employed such vulgar abuse as — " O, 
generation of vipers ! how can ye escape the damnatioji of 
hell? " It may safely be inferred, that such abusive lan- 
guage as this would be considered by the priests and rulers 
sufficient to stamp its author as a man of low character and 
violent temper. 

Again, instead of opening his mission with the declaration 
of Jehovah's former promises to the Jewish nation, that the 
God of their fathers had sent him to recover the lost sheep 
of the house of Israel^ he tells them that the holy temple 
was then a den of thieves ; and at another time, commences 
with a cord, or rattan, (like a drunken man,) to drive men 
10 



HQ FACTS AND PERSONAGES OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. 

from the temple. Is it possible to conceive that such could 
be the conduct of him who was proclaimed to be " Peace on 
earth and good will towards men " ? 

Again, miracles, as proofs of Christ's divine mission, ought 
to have been performed before the most learned and talented 
men among the Jews. On the contrary, it was the ignorant 
and unlettered part of society who were the witnesses of his 
mighty deeds ; for it is impossible for men who are unac- 
quainted with the laws and phenomena of nature, to form 
any thing like a correct judgment of those laws, so as to 
know what were their natural operations, to the exclusion 
of divine power. So that a performance of any thing, how- 
ever wonderful to ignorant and untaught men, would, to 
others, who were better acquainted with the laws of the 
universe, be no miracle at all. 

In conclusion, then, so far as miracles are concerned, a 
miracle must be something performed by another, that is 
impossible to take place without superhuman aid ; and be- 
fore persons who are so fully acquainted with the laws of 
the universe, that imposition would be impossible. Now the 
Jews, at the time of the coming of Christ, if he did come at 
all, had no such knowledge. In that age, many strange 
things were believed, that never had any real existence. 
For instance, it was fully believed by the Jews, and nearly 
throughout the world, that evil spirits or demons took pos- 
session of the bodies of men, and ceased not to torment them 
in a thousand ways ; and the casting out of these was con- 
sidered a miracle. Jesus is said to have performed many 
miracles of this kind. Mary Magdalene had seven of them 
ejected by the Saviour. So it is recorded. 

But now, no man of science gives the least credit to such 
tales ; so that the fact is, no devils ever were cast out, be- 
cause none ever entered the human body. If Jesus, then, 
pretended to cast out devils, when he knew there were none 
possessed of them, how can we exempt him from the charge 
of being a deceiver ? If, on the other hand, he believed that 
Mary Magdalene had seven, and that they left her by his 
orders, in that case, what shall w r e say as to his knowledge ? 






FACTS AND PERSONAGES OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. 

At the present day, should a person apply for medical aid to 
cast out a devil, such person would be considered a lunatic. 
This is proof positive that Jesus partook of the superstition 
of the age in which he lived ; and that his pretensions to 
cast out devils by the power of God, were incompatible with 
his mission as the Son of God, the Redeemer of Israel. 

The history of Jesus, as recorded in the four Gospels, fully 
represents him as acting like most reformers in all ages and 
nations, namely, by abusing men of wealth and power. 
But, unlike most others, Jesus represented himself as the 
only Son of God, by whose authority he (Jesus) called the 
priests and the rulers of Israel by names the most offensive, 
thereby exciting their opposition to his mode of teaching and 
acting. At the same time, the lower grades of society did 
then, as they do at the present day. They considered him 
as a reformer, the friend of the people, in proportion as he 
was lavish in his abuse of the most violent nature. 

In concluding this chapter, we may safely infer, that if 
Jesus was sent into the world to be put to death as a sacri- 
fice for sin, his manner of preaching to his countrymen, and 
his violent abuse and denunciations against the then rulers 
of Israel, were calculated to bring about his tragical end. 
But, on the contrary, if Jesus came from God, to restore the 
lost sheep of the house of Israel, as the Jews, one and all, 
expected the Messiah would do, it then follows, that the 
Jews, as a nation, were deceived, and in putting him to 
death, they thought him a blasphemer, having no claim to 
be considered as the true deliverer of his nation. If Jesus 
came from God to the Jews, as their long-expected Saviour 
and Deliverer, and every blessing, as it respected them, de- 
pended on their giving him an obedience agreeable to his 
mission as an ambassador of peace, to mistake him for an 
impostor, was a misfortune more deplorable than all the mis- 
fortunes, as a nation, the Jews had ever experienced from 
the call of Abram until the time that Christ is said to have 
arrived in the land of Judea. If, in reality and truth, he 
came from the Jehovah of that people, as they had for ages 
expected, then, instead of his collecting together a few fish- 



H2 FACTS AND PERSONAGES OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. 

ermen, common sense would instruct us to suppose, that the 
Lord's anointed would go direct to the priests and Jewish 
rulers, and accost them in the following way : — " The long- 
expected, the long-desired, is now in the midst of you. I am 
the true, the very Christ, the anointed of Jehovah, of the seed 
of Abram. My beloved mother will lift her hand, and swear 
on the altar of her God and my God, the Father of us all, 
that I am the offspring of God, and that in the absence of all 
earthly intercourse, she brought me forth, and that angels 
announced her miraculous conception, before I saw the light ; 
and that I am endowed with power from on high, to do be- 
fore your longing eyes miracles and wonders, such as all for- 
mer pretenders could not perform. But, as you have before 
been deceived by impostors who have forged my name, and 
assumed my character, believe me not for my word, but for 
my works' sake. Mark well my deportment. Give credit to 
my mighty deeds only when they are openly addressed to 
your senses, that no doubts may remain as to the identity of 
my person, and the high commission of which I am the 
bearer ; and being fully convinced of my Messiahship, obey 
me as the earthly representative of your heavenly Father, 
while 1 unfold the blessings that await you, in the fulfilment 
of the promises made to Abram and his seed forever." 

Instead, however, of thus openly and frankly making 
known the object of his message to his nation, Jesus begins 
by making use of expressions the most insulting, charging 
the priests and rulers with crimes of the basest description, in 
the worst language possible ; the direct tendency of which 
was, to arouse their worst feelings, leaving them in doubt 
what to think of one who arrogated to himself authority over 
the Mosaic law, and whose teaching was so obscure as not 
to be understood even by his own disciples. In speaking of 
himself and the kingdom he was about to set up, he said that 
his death formed a part of the divine arrangement included 
in his mission ; as much as to say, I must be put to death 
before my plans can be developed. At times, in the course 
of his preaching, Jesus referred to his future exaltation, as 
the "Judge of quick and dead." At other tima: ^ repre- 



FACTS AND PERSONAGES OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. J13 

sented himself as the only true light that enlightens every 
man that cometh into the world ; and yet, he courted obscu- 
rity in most of his preaching, so much so, that one of his most 
intimate friends (Judas) was bribed to inform the rulers who 
this extraordinary man was, and where he could be found. 
What would be thought of an ambassador, sent from 
America to England on business of the first importance, if, 
instead of proceeding to the Court of St. James, at London, 
he should be found lecturing to fishermen and people in the 
lower walks of society, and at the same time, in language of 
the most violent kind, abusing the British Government ? In 
fine, such was the preaching and acting of Jesus during his 
stay in the land of Israel, that to me it appears impossible to 
discover the object or the utility of his coming. No wonder, 
therefore, that the Jews rejected him altogether. 

10* 



H4 FACTS AND PERSONAGES OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. 



CHAPTER I. 

ON THE FACTS AND PERSONAGES IN THE NEW 
TESTAMENT.. 

Whatever may have been the moral character of the Jews, 
as a nation, at the time the reputed Messiah came among 
them, the priests and the people not only expected his advent, 
but they also considered that event as an end to their then 
subjugation, and more than a renewal of their former great- 
ness and glory. And here the reader will perceive that they 
(the Jews) had no prejudice against the appearance of such 
a personage ; the only thing they required was, his certain 
identity, that they might know the true Messiah was among 
them. Nothing could have been more favorable to his recep- 
tion than such a universal expectation. This general belief 
throughout the nation was on their part equivalent to their 
saying to the God of Jacob, "We have long waited, and 
most ardently desired, the fulfilment of the promise made to 
Abram and his seed forever." This short statement is faith- 
ful, and true as to the feelings and expectations of the whole 
Jewish nation. 

In this stage of our remarks, every thing appears to war- 
rant the conclusion, that, on the part of the descendants of 
Abram, no difficulty stood in the way of their submitting to 
their expected Lord and Master. To make him fully known 
to them, so that no mistake could possibly happen as to his 
person and authority, belonged to Jehovah alone ; for if the 
Messiah promised, seemed in nowise to be represented in the 
person of Jesus, then the Jews would have been sure to have 
rejected him as another impostor of the same sort as had 
previously imposed on their nation. In reviewing, then, the 
New Testament, the object of the writer will be to show, 
that Jesus, the pretended Saviour of the world, was not sent 



FACTS AND PERSONAGES OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. Hfr 

from God, and consequently, the New Testament is not of 
Divine authority. 

In the following inquiry, I shall not dispute the existence 
of Jesus, as a man, living about the time recorded of him, 
but take for granted the history of his life, with the excep- 
tion of his divine mission, as this method will be better un- 
derstood by the reader, as excluding irrelevant matter. In 
the Gospel history, then, it clearly appears, that Jesus wrote 
nothing of his own sayings or doings ; it was all done by 
others. This omission to give a clear code of morals, adapt- 
ed to the Gospel dispensation, and also rules and regulations 
for this new sect, will appear strange, when we refer to the 
formation and regulation of the Jewish Church. Moses, or 
whoever was its founder, took great pains to record the most 
minute things connected with the Jewish worship ; while, on 
the contrary, the Christian Church is left in such a state of 
uncertainty, that its author wrote not a word himself, nor, 
for aught we know, did he give orders to his followers to 
commit to writing any thing he did or said, not even of the 
miracles he so often performed. It must appear passing 
strange, that a religion of such vast importance to the whole 
human -race should be, as it were, left to chance, as to the 
manner in which it was to descend to posterity, when com- 
pared with the minuteness of the Mosaic code. Of the four 
evangelists, no one in particular had orders to write the life 
and doings of Christ, so that the inference is this : that all 
the history of the life of Jesus, including his death and resur- 
rection, is but the testimony of others ; consequently, we have 
no certainty that Christ ever said or did those things recorded 
of him. So that it amounts to this — somebody has said that 
Jesus performed miracles ; and the same may be said of the 
rest of his sayings and doings; and we may add, that some- 
body has written that he was put to death, and that on the 
third day he arose from the dead. 

It is from such vague and unauthenticated writings, writ- 
ten by nobody knows who, nor when they made their first 
appearance, that the foundation is drawn on which rests the 
Gospel Dispensation ; and as the different writers have given 



;Qg FACTS AND PERSONAGES* OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. 

different accounts of the things said to have taken place, no 
reliance can be given to any of the facts recorded as having 
actually occurred. The different writers have also given 
rise to doctrines so opposite to each other, that every sect 
can find Scripture evidence for the support of its respective 
dogmas. Eighteen hundred years have then passed away, 
and we are still ignorant of what is, and what is not, Gospel. 
Is it possible that any thing can be more directly in opposi- 
tion, than the Universalists and the different sects that be- 
lieve in endless punishment in a future life? Again, can any 
two things be more opposite than the doctrines concerning 
the person of Christ, as held by the Unitarians and the Trini- 
tarians ; and yet, both of these doctrines are taken from the 
New Testament, which contains all that is written of him. 
And what is still more wonderful, each of these sects are 
positive with respect to their own opinions, and are surprised 
at each other's ignorance of God's Word; and even at the 
present day, they only want full power, and they would 
soon come to blows. Not only these opinions, but many 
more, equally opposed to each other, can be supported by 
referring to God's unerring Word. It is a common saying, 
"the glorious uncertainty of the law" ; 1 will add, it is the 
glorious uncertainty of the Gospel which has made so many 
priests, and also, it is its uncertainty which has been in 
every age of the church the cause of thousands of honest 
persons meeting a violent and cruel death, for the glory of 
God. 

The reader will in the following pages discover, that my 
main object is to show that Jesus was no more sent from 
heaven to save mankind by the sacrifice of himself for the 
sins of the world, than others are sent to build houses or dig 
canals ; and that the plan, as it is called, of human redemp- 
tion, has brutalized the human race, and stood in the way 
of moral rectitude, and the development of kind and hu- 
mane feelings. Although Matthew and Luke have recorded 
the miraculous conception of Jesus, yet, as it is omitted by 
Mark and John, I shall begin my remarks with the baptism 
of John. As it respects the heavenly origin of Jesus, he 



FACTS AND PERSONAGES OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. J 17 

never mentions it in the course of his ministry, neither does 
his mother. Jesus, in speaking of himself, said he was the 
son of man. Now, if Joseph, or some other man, was not 
his father, he (Jesus) then went by a false name ; for, in 
that case, he was but the son of a woman. We will leave 
this point of disputation with the Christians, and begin with 
the baptism of John. 

After Jesus had been baptized by John, it is recorded, that 
there came a voice from heaven, saying, " Thou art my beloved 
Son in ivhom lam well pleased" (Mark i., 11.) " And im- 
mediately the Spirit driveth him into the wilderness, and he 
was- there in the wilderness forty days, tempted of Satan" 
What possible end was to be obtained by this journey into 
the wilderness, and what kind of spirit it was that drove 
him there, we have no information. At any rate, in a for- 
lorn state, and very hungry, Satan made his first visit to the 
Messenger of Peace. Jesus seemed no way surprised at this 
Satanic intrusion. They conversed together as old friends. 
We may suppose Satan to open the conversation somewhat 
in the following manner : — 

" Why, Jesus ! you seem to be any thing but in comforta- 
ble quarters. This is carrying temperance rather too far ; 
nothing to eat or drink, and surrounded by wild beasts as 
hungry as yourself ! I have heard that you represent to 
your nation that you are sent to them from Jehovah, your 
father. Now, if you have any thing to communicate to 
them of importance, this secluded spot is very unfavorable 
to make known your mission. Gome, give over fasting, for 
1 if you are the Son of God, command these stones that they 
be made bread.' " This observation, or, as it is called, this 
temptation of the Devil, caused Jesus to make this reply : — 
u It is written, that man shall not live by bread alone, but by 
every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God. Then 
the Devil taketh him up into the holy city, [or coaxed him to 
leave the wilderness,] and setteth him on a pinnacle of the 
Temple, and saith unto him, If thou be the Son of God, 
cast thyself down, for it is written, he shall give his angels 
charge concerning thee, and in their hands they shall bear 



218 FACTS AND PERSONAGES OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. 

thee up, lest at any time thou dash thy foot against a stone. 
Jesus said unto him, It is written again, Thou shalt not tempt 
the Lord thy God. Again, the Devil taketh him up into an 
exceeding high mountain, and showeth him all the kingdoms 
of the world, and the glory of them, ; and saith unto him, all 
these things will I give thee, if thou toilt fall down and wor- 
ship me. Then saith Jesus unto him, Get thee hence, Satan ; 
for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and 
him only shalt thou serve. Then the Devil leaveth him, and 
behold angels came and ministered unto himP (Matthew, 
chapter iv.) 

To those who are not afraid to examine this strange 
account, it must appear unworthy of the least credit. In the 
first place, as it stands recorded, the Devil and Jesus act as 
if they had been old and intimate acquaintances. This is 
the first announcement we have that any such personage as 
the Devil ever visited this earth, except he is the same iden- 
tical being who, upwards of four thousand years before, came 
to the garden of Eden and tempted Eve, and was the cause 
of herself and her husband's being expelled from that abode 
of innocence. If it were the intention of the writers of 
the life of Jesus, that it should be understood that the Devil 
had been resting quietly, and enjoying himself, and then ap- 
peared, ripe for new schemes of mischief, and Satan reasoning 
within himself was resolved again to try his hand, — is it 
possible, when this account is duly considered, that one per- 
son in a thousand can give credit to such nonsense ? 

A few remarks on Christ's temptation by the Devil will 
suffice to show its absurdity. In the first place, then, can we 
believe that a being of Infinite Power, Wisdom, and Goodness, 
ever has, or does now, keep in existence a Devil whose whole 
aim and happiness consist in tempting God's creatures to 
rebel against their maker and benefactor ; and that God has 
given him power and capacity to induce men and women to 
commit every sort of crime that disgraces humanity ? Be- 
sides, so artful is this Devil that man has but a poor chance 
to escape his cunning attacks and devices. We are told that 
the Lord is angry with the wicked every day ; and yet for 



FACTS AND PERSONAGES OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. J|Q 

all that, he has made a being of immense power who pos- 
sesses unbounded malice against both God and man. Would 
any man, who was in his right mind, keep in his employ a 
person who would daily destroy his property, and breed dis- 
cord among his steady workmen? None but a madman 
could so act ; and shall we suppose that the all- wise ruler of 
the universe would follow in the path of a man out of his 
senses ? 

Again, according to the account in Matthew, the Devil 
seems full of life and impudence ; while the reputed Saviour 
appears sheepish and stupid, and seems willing to follow the 
Devil about at his bidding ! We have no account as to the 
form in which the Devil appeared, whether as a rich man or 
a loafer ; whether fat or lean, and how old he appeared to 
be ; neither are we informed in what kind of dress he walked 
through the street of Jerusalem, whether it was in the cos- 
tume of the age, or in the livery of hell. At any rate, Jesus 
seemed rather scared at the old serpent. Jesus commenced 
his mission more like a hermit than as a messenger of peace 
to God's chosen people. In fact, there is, in Jesus, through 
his whole life, something so unearthly that his existence as a 
man is very doubtful. In the whole account of the tempta- 
tion of the Devil, the evidence of its being a mixture of fable 
and falsehood is apparent. 

Besides, it is altogether unaccountable how Jesu& and the 
Devil became so well acquainted with each other ; for Jesus 
was a Jew by nation, and strictly obeyed the law of Moses; 
but Moses is completely silent as to the existence of any such 
personage as the Devil. At the time when it is said Jesus 
came to the Jewish nation, they had, during their captivity, 
embraced the theology of their conquerors; and on their 
return to the land of their nativity, brought with them the 
belief in the existence of good and bad angels, and also the 
doctrine of a future state of rewards and punishments, — 
dogmas unknown to, and never taught by, Moses. It is 
clear, then, that the very existence of a Devil never was a 
doctrine of the Old Testament, but on the contrary, it was 
borrowed from eastern mythology : and Jesus, finding that 



220 FACTS AND PERSONAGES OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. 

the Jews professed to believe it, fell in with it, as also a hea- 
ven and a hell, and a judgment to come, which doctrines 
were all of heathen origin. The Old Testament is silent as 
to what constitutes orthodox Christianity. Ye Christian 
ministers ! your heaven and hell, by the teaching of which 
you gain wealth and live like princes, is nothing but an echo 
of by-gone ages, which had its origin in the imagination of 
the priesthood of an antiquity anterior to the existence of 
Moses or of the Jewish nation I 

But to return to the temptation of Jesus by the Devil. 
And here it may be asked, how it can now, or ever could, 
be considered a temptation at all 1 If Jesus was what they 
say he professed to be, the sent of God, he knew well that 
the Devil had nothing to give him by way of inducement to 
distrust his Father's superintendence and care. Jesus might 
have said to Satan, "You lying old Devil, you know that 
you have no kingdom to bestow ; you likewise well know 
that you have not land enough whereon to build a hovel, in 
which to shelter your favorite associates, the swine ! " But, 
on the contrary, Jesus seems to act with great respect towards 
the Devil. He made no objections to follow Satan wherever 
he chose to lead him. We are ignorant of the object Jesus 
had in view by retiring into the wilderness ; and how the 
Devil came to be acquainted with his destitute situation, we 
are also at a loss to conjecture. Likewise, we have yet to 
learn whether Satan resided among the Jews, or dwelt in 
the regions of the air, as he is called " the Prince and poioer 
of the air, the spirit which works in the hearts of the children 
of disobedience." 

The number of forty years, or days, is repeatedly chosen 
by the writers of the Old Testament, in which to perform 
something wonderful, and of great importance. Thus, the 
Jews were forty years going from Egypt to the land of pro- 
mise, during which time nearly all that came out of bondage 
were destroyed for their disobedience against the God of 
Abram, Isaac, and Jacob. Jehovah and Moses were forty 
days on Mount Sinai, preparing ornaments for the Jewish 
worship, during which time Aaron and the rest of the Israel- 



FACTS AND PERSONAGES OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. J21 

lies returned back to worship the gods of their former oppres- 
sors ; so that it appears, before the church of Jehovah in the 
wilderness was ready to sing his praise, and thank him for 
bringing them out of bondage, both Aaron and the people were 
singing and dancing before the golden calves of Egypt ! The 
number forty has been most unfortunate for Jehovah's plans; 
for, in addition to repeated failures connected with the num- 
ber forty, it is recorded that Jehovah was grieved forty years 
for the transgressions of his chosen people ; and Jesus, after 
forty days' fasting, surrounded by devouring beasts and hun- 
gry vultures, behold ! the Devil came skulking along with 
brazen-faced impudence, and Jesus, the better to get rid of 
him, broke up his solitary abode. Thus, again, the number 
forty concluded without any apparent object being effected. 

Whoever wrote this account of Christ's temptation, as if 
it was not foolish enough, has added, that after the Devil 
had withdrawn from making Jesus such tempting offers to 
enlist into his service, angels came and ministered unto him. 
What the nature of the service was, which they performed, 
we know not; but one would suppose their first inquiry 
ought to have been, whether he did not wish to have his 
dinner as soon as possible ? The whole of this account is 
so contemptible, that I shall not give it any further attention. 

If we contrast the submissive conduct and humble deport- 
ment of Jesus, when in conversation with the Devil, with 
his manner and intercourse with the rulers and priests of his 
own nation, he appears, in reference to the latter, whom we 
should expect he would have treated with that respectable 
language due to their standing in society, and consistent 
with his dignity as the Messenger of Peace, to great disad- 
vantage as a divine teacher : for it must be ever borne in 
mind, that Jesus must be considered, according to his own 
account, superior to all that ever came before him, and to 
the imperfections found in men in common, and even in the 
prophets of old, so that he must so conduct himself that his 
sayings and doings must be capable of standing the most 
rigid moral scrutiny. But, instead of his appealing to the 
Jewish rulers in the most courteous manner— instead of his 
11 



J22 FACTS AND PERSONAGES OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. 

plainly stating who he was, and the vast importance of his 
coming on earth, he begins by upbraiding them in a way 
calculated to disgust them, and thereby frustrate the object 
of his mission. He calls them u a generation of vipers?' 
and asks them £i how they can think to escape the damnation 
of hell?" 

Although the chief priest and rulers were over-anxious in 
their inquiries as to whom he was, and by what authority 
he so openly condemned others, he treated them as unworthy 
of a civil reply; for, let the moral conduct of the Jewish 
priests and rulers be what it might, admitting it was very 
bad, nothing could justify him in the use of insult and the 
most violent vituperations. What kind of reception would 
an ambassador meet with in England, should he, before his 
mission was fully understood by that Court, abuse the rulers 
of that kingdom, and at the same time associate with a few 
obscure individuals as witnesses of such abuse 1 Would he 
be considered a fit person to represent the authorities who 
sent him ? for, never let us forget, that of all the missions 
sent by one nation to another nation for the settlement of 
any difficulties that might exist between them, none ever was 
of such importance as the one which Jesus was to present 
to " the lost sheep of the house of Israel." Let us also bear 
in mind, that the rulers among the Jews made every inquiry 
as to whom he was, and the purport of his coming. Yes, 
every effort on the part of the Jews was made to draw out 
of him from whence he derived his authority ; but his an- 
swers were any thing but to the point, for, he said on one 
occasion, u An evil and adulterous generation seeketh after a 
sign ; and there shall no sign be given to it, but the sign of 
the prophet Jonas P and that was no answer at all. 

I am well aware what Christians will say in this case : 
that his miracles were sufficient evidence ; but all the proof 
we have that he did perform miracles, is, somebody has 
written that he did so. But here I shall dispute the per- 
formance of some of his miracles, from the New Testament 
account of them ; and, in my next chapter, 1 shall show that 
modern discoveries have proved, beyond dispute, that some 



FACTS AND PERSONAGES OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. J23 

of the miracles said to have been performed by Jesus could 
not have taken place, for if any person in the present age, 
were to pretend that he could perform similar miracles, he 
would not only be considered an impostor, but would also be 
deemed an ignoramus. 



CHAPTER II, 



ON THE FACTS AND PERSONAGES OF THE 
NEW TESTAMENT. 

Of all the miracles said to have., been wrought by Jesus, as 
recorded in the Gospels, the casting out of devils are among 
the foremost. The case of Mary Magdalene is often referred 
to by Jesus himself ; it is related that no less than seven had 
taken possession of her person. It is truly wonderful, that 
at the time of Christ's preaching, the old Devil of all, and 
a host of subordinate ones, appeared to be more active than 
at any other time of which we have any account. The old 
Devil came forward after an absence of more than four thou- 
sand years ; for, we have no account that he, either in per- 
son or by proxy, had visited God's chosen people, admitting 
that it was he, who, by the agency of a serpent, or by any 
other means, deceived Adam and Eve, by which deception, 
pain, and even death, followed as a consequence. Satan 
might well think that he could afford to rest awhile, till 
Jehovah should make some new movement to benefit the 
human race. 

How the Devil came to know that Jesus was about to 
commence preaching repentance for the remission of sin, we 
have no means of finding out ; but, when Jesus had retired 
into the wilderness, behold the Devil was close at his heels, 
and they seemed to be as well acquainted as two old play- 



224 FACTS AND PERSONAGES OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. 

mates. The Devil was well fitted for discussion, for he ap- 
peared well versed with the Old Testament. However, if 
he were the same Devil who outwitted Jehovah in Paradise, 
he failed to obtain a victory over the Son in the wilderness. 
What became of him after his defeat on the Temple, and 
when he came down from the mountain, we have no ac- 
count. No mention is made of his being concerned in riding 
the hogs into the sea. We must, therefore, leave him, and 
attend to the triumph of Jesus in ejecting them from their 
strong holds. 

The first in order which we shall review, as being pos- 
sessed of devils, will be Mary Magdalene, out of whom, it 
is recorded, Jesus cast seven devils. This woman must be 
considered most greviously afflicted. How they operated on 
her — whether it was by inflicting bodily pain, or a mental 
disease, we know not ; at any rate, she seemed incapable of 
getting rid of them. The number being seven, and having 
dispositions opposed to each other, they no doubt often quar- 
relled among themselves, and disturbed her in her sleeping 
hours ; at all events, her gratitude and attachment to Jesus 
is proof positive that she preferred their room to their com- 
pany. 

Christians, in speaking of Mary Magdalene, convey the 
idea, that, previous to the casting out of the devils, she did 
not bear a good character. But this is a mistake ; for, if the 
New Testament account of devils taking possession of per- 
sons, be true, and that no human power can eject them, it 
then follows, that Mary Magdalene was truly unfortunate, 
since no less than seven of these intruders were constantly 
about her. We are left to conjecture how the number seven 
could have been discovered. If Mary had been compelled 
to have had seven teeth extracted, the number could have 
been fully known to those who stood by ; but how, or in 
what way, it could have been known that seven devils were 
cast out, unless they appeared visible to the by-standers, 
does not appear. But we will not dwell too long on such 
sheer nonsense, as not one word of truth is in the whole story 
of casting out devils j for the best of all possible reasons, be- 



PACTS AND PERSONAGES OP THE NEW TESTAMENT. Jgg 

cause there were none at all to cast out. It is recorded that 
the Jews were troubled with devils of different kinds, such 
as unclean devils, deaf and dumb devils, and, in one case, a 
kind of devil which could not be cast out only by prayer and 
fasting. If, at the present day, a person was to apply for 
medical aid, and hint to the doctor that his wife was really 
possessed with (not seven) but one devil, the doctor would 
consider such a man a fit subject for a lunatic asylum. 

As it respects demoniacal possession, it is, or rather was, of 
heathen origin. The Jews, as a nation, believed in its truth, 
as did also the surrounding nations ; consequently, if a per- 
son had a complaint attended with fits, or any thing rather 
out of the common way, by which human beings were af- 
flicted, such a disease was considered a possession of one or 
more evil spirits. But now, that the laws of nature are bet- 
ter understood, and medical science more fully developed, 
demonology, as well as witchcraft and sorcery, are given 
up altogether. No doubt now remains, but that the whole 
was the effect of ignorance and fraud ; and consequently the 
casting out of devils by Jesus and his apostles, had no reali- 
ty in it whatever. It is not possible for us to conceive why 
demons or devils should have taken possession of human be- 
ings, admitting that they have a real existence. We are 
ignorant as to the state of mind of these beings. Whether 
in those days they took possession of men and women out 
of rebellion against God, or, having no real home, were only 
Wanderers, and felt more comfortable when dwelling in the 
bodies of animals or of human beings, we cannot determine. 
The latter, however, appears to have been the case ; for, on 
one occasion, when Jesus was about to expel a legion, the 
devils besought him to permit them to e?iter into the swine ; 
but it is recorded, that the hogs started off down into the sea, 
and were drowned. What became of the devils, we know 
not. If this miracle took place, one thing is clear, namely, 
that the devils, with all their cunning, made a bad calcula- 
tion as to the security they would have in the swine. 

At the time Jesus is said to have lived among the Jews, 
the casting out of devils was a common occurrence ; for 
11* 



126 FACTS AND PERSONAGES OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. 

Jesus, in reply to the charge that he cast out devils by Beel- 
zebub, the prince or chief of devils, says, ''- If I by Beelzebub 
cast out devils, by whom do your sons cast them out ? there- 
fore they shall be the judges." So that, after all, it follows, 
that what so many could do without the authority of Jesus, 
was no miracle at all. It was nothing short of imposition, 
and failed of being any proof of his divine mission. The 
truth is, that casting out devils was a heathen practice, 
among many other things, of heathenish origin ; and Jesus, 
according to the New Testament, fell in with it, as he did 
with many doctrines which the Jews brought into the land 
of Israel when they returned from their long captivity. The 
Jews brought back with them the belief of a future state of 
rewards and punishments, the existence of the soul, a heaven 
for the virtuous and good, and a hell for the wicked ; also 
good and bad angels, and a future judgment, over which 
Jesus said to the Jews he was appointed to be the judge. 
Notwithstanding the silence of the Old Testament as to the 
tenets above noticed, yet Jesus fell in with them, and he 
also threatened the Jews that they were in danger of that 
very hell and damnation which they gathered from their 
heathen conquerors. Ye Christian priests ! your heaven and 
hell, and also your devil, belong to and originated in a hea- 
then mythology, the beginning of which is lost in a remote 
antiquity. Yes, Christian doctors ! your heaven and hell, 
which, from the hope of the first, and the fear of the last, 
you teach as divine truths, and, by so doing, live in splen- 
dor. — these very doctrines have nothing divine about them, 
and you ought to know it. 

Leaving, then, the miracles of casting out devils, which 
were no proof of the divine mission of Jesus, because others, it 
is said, could, without his aid, do the same, we must refer to 
the other miracles said to have been performed and intended 
to establish his claim as being the true Messiah, the sent of 
God. If the miracles that Jesus performed, had been in- 
tended to remove all doubts that the Jewish nation had as to 
his being an impostor, such miracles ought to have been suf- 
ficiently convincing for that purpose; for, on such test, his 



FACTS AND PERSONAGES OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. \2l 

reception or rejection entirely depended. Now, from the ac- 
counts of his appealing to his countrymen, and reproaching 
them for their unbelief, he does not, to all appearance, wish 
nor try to convince them : for, it is said of his miracles, that 
"he did not many mighty works because of their unbelief." 
Their incredulity as to his being the true Christ, is a reason 
why he should have followed up miracle after miracle, until 
unbelief would have been impossible on the part of the Jews ; 
for. the reader must keep in mind that the dispute with Jesus 
and the Jews was not of a moral character : it was as to his 
authority in assuming to be greater than Abram, or all the 
prophets of the Old Testament. 

Again, Jesus says, L '"Woe unto you [of such a town or vil- 
lage,] for if the mighty works which have been done in you, 
had been done in Sodom and Gomorrah, they would have re- 
pented in sackcloth and ashes." " Therefore it will be more 
tolerable for Sodom and Gomorrah, in the day of judgment, 
than for you" Now here we can see, that the miracles were 
not of the sort to convince. Then, why not produce others 
more strong? Besides, it showed Jesus to be ignorant of the 
human mind, his condemning men for not believing when the 
evidence was not strong enough to convince them. It is true, 
according to the accounts of Christ's preaching to the Jews, 
that instead of argument he resorted to abuse of the coarsest 
kind, and the same conduct is pursued by Christians towards 
unbelievers at the present day. In some instances, Jesus 
charged the persons on ivhom a miracle had been performed, 
that they should tell none of it. 

Again, the evidence arising from the working of miracles 
must always depend on the information possessed by those 
before whom such signs and wonders were wrought. If Jesus 
intended to rest his Messiahship on the wonders he intended 
to perform, in such a case the most learned and best informed 
of the Jewish nation were the proper persons to be the judges • 
for, in our day, in the nineteenth century, we have daily 
proof that so universal is ignorance, and so credulous is the 
mass of society, that such trash and inconsistent doctrines as 
those taught by Joseph Smith and his famous Golden Bible 



12Q FACTS AND PERSONAGES OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. 

have gained thousands of believers, and the greatest part of 
them are sincere, and would suffer death sooner than renounce 
what they believe to be a divine revelation to Smith, and 
others of the same stamp. The most learned and intelligent 
of the Jews knew this truth, as many of their ignorant people 
had been led away by false Christs, and lost their all, and 
their lives also. No wonder, then, that they should watch 
closely every movement made by Jesus, the then reputed 
Messiah. There are> in the present age, many things dis- 
covered and known to the most unlearned, that, in former 
times, much less remote than the time in which Jesus is said 
to have lived, would have been thought miraculous, and the 
persons performing them as possessing power more than hu- 
man. So that we may safely conclude, that Infinite Wisdom 
would not have made use of so uncertain a species of evidence 
as miracles, to convince the Jews that the sent of God was 
come. Other and more certain means would have been 
resorted to, so that the Jews could not have mistaken the real 
Christ, and put him to death for an impostor. 

If we attentively examine the life of Jesus, as written by 
the four evangelists, we shall be surprised at many parts of 
his proceedings. His uncourteous language to the great men 
of his nation must strike the reader very forcibly. He 
preaches humility and meekness, and soon we perceive him 
arrogating divine honors, and calling those, who came before 
him, robbers and thieves. He commands his followers to 
judge not, and the next moment he judges others, and con- 
demns them without ceremony ; and although it is said of 
him, that u a bruised reed he would not break, and smoking 
flax he woidd not quench" and that " his voice would not be 
heard in the street" yet we find him using something very 
little short of outrage and violence. In the affair of the Tern* 
pie, for instance, it is recorded that Jesus took a cord, and 
began to attack those sitting about that sacred place, "over- 
throwing the tables of the money-changers, and the seats of 
them that sold doves," calling them " a den of thieves." Such 
conduct the Jews could not expect from their long-wished 
and earnestly-desired Messiah. 



FACTS AND PERSONAGES OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. J29 

Even at twelve years of age, his conduct seems to have had 
something strange about it; namely, his absenting himself 
from his home. When his parents found him, and told him 
that "they had sought him sorrowing" he said, in reply, 
"Wist ye not that I must be about my Father s business?" 
This answer appears not to have been understood by his re- 
lations ; but if Joseph was not his father, his mother could 
not wonder at his straying from home ; she would have said 
to Joseph, " As you are not his father, he has reference to the 
Holy Ghost." His conduct also partook of the same strange- 
ness at the marriage-feast. When the wine was all out, his 
mother told her son of it ; his reply was not very dutiful — 
a Woman" says he, " what have I to do ivith thee ?" At such 
a place, on the night of a marriage ceremony, there seems 
something so unearthly about him, that he never appeared at 
ease in any company ; such an absence of mirthful enjoyment 
was calculated to spread a gloom throughout the whole party. 

But that which appears very strange in Jesus, is his using 
language that even his disciples did not understand, such as, 
" The kingdom of heaven is at hand ; " that he " came down 
from heaven ; " for, says Jesus, " No man hath ascended up 
into heaven, but he who cam,e down from heaven, even the son 
of man, who is in heaven" And again, "Repent ye, for the 
kingdom of heaven is at hand;" and to the rich man, who 
asked him what he was to do to secure the kingdom of 
heaven, Jesus said, that in addition to loving and fearing 
God, and doing his duty to his neighbor, he " must sell all he 
had, and give it to the poor." 

The reader must ever keep in mind the true merits of the 
case between Jesus and the Jews. It was not, whether they 
were more immoral than their heathen neighbors, nor as to 
their being more or less learned than surrounding nations: 
for, we do not find that Jesus ever made any inquiries as to 
their mechanic arts, or the state of agriculture practised 
among them. Neither do we find that Jesus interested him- 
self as to their progress in the science of astronomy. The 
last of these we can conceive would have been very useful; 
and it might be supposed that he could impart some know- 



130 FACTS AND PERSONAGES OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. 

ledge in regard to it, since, in his passage from heaven to 
earth, he must have crossed some of the planetary orbits, 
and no doubt observed their satellites then undiscovered; 
but to communicate such important information was not in- 
cluded in his mission. His only object was, to convince the 
Jews that he, and he alone, was the true and undoubted 
Messiah promised by the prophets to redeem and restore the 
Jews, as a nation, to their former greatness and glory. Every 
other subject was useless, and only stood as an hindrance in 
the way of the great purpose of his coming. 

I have before stated, that miracles must ever be considered 
doubtful evidence to prove that the performer is any thing 
more than what men in all ages have pretended to be ; and 
to pretend to do what is far beyond human agency, presup- 
poses that the persons who are to be the judges, know where 
human power ends, and divine power begins. But for this 
knowledge, no just and certain rule can be laid down ; con- 
sequently, it is folly to conceive that Infinite Wisdom would 
make use of means so ill-adapted to the end in view. It 
would be but an attempt to prove a doubtful truth, by means 
equally if not more doubtful. 

But, before closing this chapter, we will inquire into the 
probability of any miracles having been performed, as men- 
tioned by the New Testament writers. And here our atten- 
tion must be turned to the internal evidence afforded by the 
New Testament itself. We shall there find internal or indi- 
rect proof, that those miracles never took place, and that the 
whole of them were ante-dated; that is, after the persons 
were dead who are said to have been the performers. If 
this can be made out, miracles will then receive a shock 
from which they never can recover. To do this, will be the 
work of what remains to be done in this chapter. 

John the Baptist is the first personage we shall select. 
The miracle said to have taken place at the baptism of 
Jesus, is recorded by John, as follows: — " And after Jesus 
came up out of the loater, the heavens icere opened unto him, 
and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and 
lighting upon him ; and, lo ! a voice from heaven saying, 



PACTS AND PERSONAGES OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. 1^1 

This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased." (Mat- 
thew iii.j 16, 17.) Again, in John's Gospel, i., 36, when 
John the Baptist saw Jesus, he said of him, " Behold the 
La7nb of God." John also said of Jesus, that he knew him 
not till it toas told him, that on whomsoever he {John) should 
see the Spirit of God descend, the same is he — meaning the 
true Christ. Now here are repeated miracles to convince not 
only John the Baptist, but also all that were present at the 
baptism of Jesus. Such evidence ought to have stopped any 
future inquiries as to the real Messiahship of Jesus; but 
there are strong doubts as to the truth that any such won- 
ders were exhibited at the time they are recorded to have 
taken place. 

I shall proceed to present those doubts to the reader, as 
truth is my object, and I am not afraid to follow after it : — 
In Matthew ii., 1, 2, it reads, " Now when John had heard 
in the prison the works of Christ, he sent two of his disci- 
ples, and said unto him, Art thou he that should come, or do 
we look for another 7" This question, sent by John to 
Christ, shows clearly that John did not hear of the wonders 
wrought by Christ until he (John) was in prison for his re- 
proof of Herod. This account makes it almost certain that 
the whole story of John's baptizing Jesus, and also of the 
voice from heaven, saying, "This is my beloved Son, in 
whom 1 am well pleased," is a fabrication altogether, and 
that John had never heard of Jesus until his confinement. 
For this conclusion, we have twofold proof: since if John 
had baptized Jesus, and the wonders were performed as re- 
corded, John could not have required any further evidence 
as to his being no pretender, but the true Messiah, the hope 
and expectation of Israel. On the part of Jesus, his reply 
Avould have been, "Why, John, what do you mean by send- 
ing a question as to whom I am ? You heard the voice from 
heaven when I was baptized; you also saw the dove descend 
on my head ; and now you send two of your disciples to in- 
quire of me, by saying, ' Art thou he that should come, or 
do we look for another '? ' " 

If we consider John's question to Jesus, and also Jesus's 



232 FACTS AND PERSONAGES OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. 

reply, it will be plain that John had not even seen nor heard 
much of Jesus, till after he was in prison. What, then, sha^ 
we say of those wonders at the baptism of Jesus ? The an- 
swer is at hand, which is, that there is no truth in the story. 
The probability is, that it was recorded from hearsay evi- 
dence, by some person unknown, and ante-dated so as to 
correspond to the time of John the Baptist ; but that such 
evidence was given to John, of the identity of Jesus, as to 
prevent any future inquiry, there can be no doubt, admitting 
it ever took place ; but John's sending his disciples to Jesus 
to ascertain the truth of his being the true Messiah, fully 
destroys the truth of any voice being heard by John, or the 
Holy Spirit descending like a dove on the head of Jesus. 

The ignorance of all the disciples of Jesus, as it regards 
who he really was, is remarkable, if it be admitted that he 
performed what is said of him. We will notice the Apostle 
Peter, as he may be fairly considered the representative of 
the twelve. It is written, that when Jesus and Peter were 
together, behold ! old Moses and Elias (Elijah) came so near 
to the earth that they held conversation with Jesus, and that 
Peter, somehow r or other, knew them; but he, so far from being 
alarmed at seeing those two old prophets, was unwilling that 
they should return, and even proposed to Jesus to prepare 
for their stay. Surely, that was an age of miracles and 
wonders ! We have an account of the old Devil 1 s crawling 
out from some hole or cave, and following Jesus into the 
wilderness; and, again, we have two old prophets returned, 
hovering in the air, and conversing with Jesus; one of whom 
is said to have died a thousand years previous to the time 
of his holding this supposed conversation with Jesus from 
the clouds; and the other, at nearly the same time, was 
taken up into heaven in a chariot of fire ! Those two 
strange personages must have had business of great impor- 
tance with Jesus. Are we to consider this strange visit to 
have taken place, when the truth of it rests on the same au- 
thority as all the other miracles and wonders which are re- 
corded concerning the mission of Jesus'? If Moses and 
Elijah did not in truth and reality talk to Jesus from the 



FACTS AND PERSONAGES OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. J33 

clouds, in the hearing of Peter, in their real persons, or by 
their apparitions, it then follows, that there is no truth in 
any of the miracles or wonders said to have been performed, 
to prove that Jesus was sent from God ; for all the miracles 
and wonders which (it is said) took place, stand or fall to- 
gether. 

If, for instance, the Devil did not find Jesus in the wilder- 
ness, and go with him into the city, and tempt him to throw 
himself from the Temple— - if this is not strictly true, why, 
then, it is false as to Moses and Elijah's talking with him 
from the clouds. This incredible story, if related in any 
book but what is called the Word of God, would not be 
credited by one in ten thousand ; but being found in the life 
of the Redeemer, the man who rejects it and proclaims it 
unworthy of credit, is considered an enemy of God, and will 
have the sentence of " Go, ye cursed" fyc. As so much im- 
portance is attached to what is called the Word of God, we 
will discuss a little further the business which brought Moses 
and Elijah so near to this earth. As to where Moses or Elijah 
reside, we have no knowledge, and what is the nature of 
their employment, we know not ; but if they still live, they 
must have some location, and also, we suppose, must be 
employed about something — but these things we must leave 
to those who are better acquainted with other worlds, while 
our attention will be directed to the business of the heavenly 
visitors. 

If Moses had any interest in the mission of Jesus to the 
Jews, he could have been serviceable to him, as he had been 
their former leader, and therefore could give him useful hints 
concerning them. We may suppose he would introduce the 
subject of Jesus' s mission in the following manner : — -"I am 
Moses, the former leader of the seed of Abram, and hearing 
that Jehovah had sent his son Jesus to convert them to the 
true worship of God, and the practice of justice and truth, I 
come to offer my services, as I am well acquainted with that 
disobedient race; and, in truth, I had a terrible time of it 
with them : only think of forty years in the wilderness, al- 
ways murmuring, and worshipping strange gods, for which,, 
12 



234 FACTS AND PERSONAGES OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. 

at times, they were cruelly punished; Jehovah destroyed 
thousands of them for resisting my authority ; but they were 
incurable. He would have, at one time, so great was his 
wrath, destroyed them all ; but I told him what the Egyp- 
tians and the heathen in general would say, and he altered 
his mind, and killed off the worst of them : for, getting a little 
out of temper with them at one time, in consequence of their 
murmurings, Jehovah became angry with me, and I was pre- 
vented from enjoying full possession of the promised land. 
It always surprised me how it came about that Jehovah 
should select them from the rest of the human race, for in 
my lifetime nothing was ever made of them ; they even dis- 
graced the God who had made them his choice. I left them 
in the hands of Joshua, as the most proper person to rule over 
them; but how he got along with them, I have not heard.' 7 

"Your offer, Moses, is duly appreciated; but the Jews, as 
a nation, are now a different people from what they were 
when you had to manage them. My course will be different 
altogether from what you pursued. Farewell ! Moses and 
Elijah." We may suppose that Jesus would say to Peter, 
"As for your purposing to erect three tabernacles in this 
place, one for myself, one for Moses, and another for Elijah, 
it is proof that you are entirely ignorant of my future deal- 
ings with my own nation ; for, in a few months, such things 
will transpire, that even you, Peter, all zealous as you are, will 
swear off and deny any knowledge of me." 

Now, reader, nothing can be more extravagant than to 
suppose that such conversation took place between Jesus, 
Moses, and Elijah. But if those two old prophets did really 
descend, and converse with Jesus, then what I have supposed 
is no more extravagant than that two prophets, who had not 
been on earth for a thousand years, should pay a visit to Jesus, 
and hold converse with him. These miracles never occurred, 
and the world has been imposed upon and plundered by men, 
who, by telling such tales, have lived in idleness ; and their 
quarrels about what Jesus said or somebody said, or did, have 
in every age been the cause of evils of every kind, and of 
rendering human beings ignorant and wretched. 



FACTS AND PERSONAGES OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. ^35 

Christians, in speaking of the divine mission of Jesus, urge 
nis miracles as proofs that he came from God with full 
authority to give laws to, and finally to judge both quick and 
dead; but the proof is wanting that he ever performed one 
miracle. All the evidence we derive from the miracles said 
to have been performed is not, that we know they were 
wrought by Jesus, but that it is by somebody recorded that 
he did the mighty works attributed to him, and which to us 
is no evidence at all. To believe, then, what is written, 
without knowing by whom, or at what time and place it was 
written, is to believe without evidence, which would be a 
voluntary degradation of the noble faculties which have been 
conferred upon man. 



CHAPTER III. 



ON THE FACTS AND PERSONAGES IN THE NEW 
TESTAMENT. 

Peter, of all the twelve apostles, seems to have been more 
in the confidence of Jesus than the rest ; since when he and 
Peter were alone, his inquiry of Peter was as to what the 
people thought of him. For he said to Peter, u Whom do 
the people say that I, the son of man, am ? " Peter answered 
him, that different opinions were abroad concerning him. 
Some said one thing, and some another; but the general 
opinion was, that one of the old prophets had returned. 
Jesus then turned to Peter and asked him as to his own con- 
viction, and received for answer, " Thou art the Christ, the 
Son of the living God. And Jesus answered and said unto 
him, Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona, for flesh and blood 
hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father lohich is in 
heaven.'''' In consequence of this declaration of Peter, Jesus 



J 36 FACTS AND PERSONAGES OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. 

then grants him superhuman power. To Peter, he says — - 
" Upon this rock loill I build my church. And I will give 
unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven : and whatsoever 
thou shalt bind on earthy shall be bound in heaven ; and ivhat- 
soever thou shall loose on earth, shall be loosed in heaven. 
Then charged he his disciples, that they should tell no man 
that he was Jesus the Christ." (Matthew xvi., 18. 19.. 20.) 

From the subsequent conduct of Peter, it is not possible 
for him to have witnessed the astonishing miracles said to 
have been performed in his presence. Peter was present 
when Moses and Elijah conversed with Jesus; and while 
Peter was speaking to his Divine Master, " Behold, a bright 
cloud overshadowed them, and, behold, a voice out of the cloud, 
which said, This is my beloved Son, in whom, I am well 
pleased ; hear ye him." Now, if there were such a demon- 
stration as this, (and many such proofs Peter had been fa- 
vored with,) how is it possible for us to account for Peter's 
denying that he even knew Jesus at all 1 This ought to be 
sufficient for us to conclude that the accounts of those won- 
ders performed in the lifetime of Jesus, are false statements, 
written after the reputed resurrection of Jesus, and the death 
of Peter, and that neither of them saw nor believed any 
thing of the kind whatever. 

In the present chapter, I shall notice the mode adopted by 
Jesus to prove his Messiahship. In this investigation, we 
shall discover a want of openness and plain-dealing as it re- 
lates to the communication of his objects as the expected 
hope and deliverer of Israel. The reader must ever keep in 
mind, that the object of Christ's coming, so far as the Jews 
were interested, was, first, to prove, beyond the shadow of a 
doubt, that the true and only Messiah had arrived among 
them. Until this was settled, nothing which Jesus said or 
taught would be of any avail, because, unless this point was 
established, none would admit his authority to enforce any 
thing that appeared in opposition to Jewish theology, or to 
the ceremonies of the laws of Moses, the observance of 
which, the Jews could not be prevailed upon to neglect; for 
it clearly appears that the Jewish priests and rulers never 



I 



FACTS AND PERSONAGES OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. J 37 

showed any disposition to resist, or in any way to treat with 
disrespect, the holy one of Israel The Jews, then, were in 
a favorable state of mind to receive him whom they had so 
long and so earnestly expected and desired. But, as that 
nation had before been deceived, a double degree of caution 
became necessary to detect deception and expose imposture ; 
for, until Jesus had proved, beyond the possibility of a doubt, 
that he had the sanction of Heaven for all which he taught, 
the Jews could place no reliance on his pretensions. 

It will now be proper to notice the introduction of the mis- 
sion of Jesus to the Jews. If he came by the divine com- 
mand of the Governor of the Universe, we ought to expect 
that his mission would be clearly made known to all those 
who were interested. Nothing of such vast importance 
must be guess-work ; and the first and most important of 
all inquiries would be, who are you, and by whom are you 
sent? for, until these inquiries were finally settled, his say- 
ings could not have their full effect ; since, as it has before 
been remarked, the moral state of the Jews was not the 
point at issue, until his mission was made known, and each 
party came to a right understanding. When, therefore, the 
Jews understood who Jesus was, and the high authority 
under which he taught, to correct their moral defects would 
make a part of his teaching, and their minds would have 
been free from the obstacles that stood in the way of attend- 
ing to his precepts. 

The erratic method resorted to by Jesus, in his converse 
with his nation, as recorded in the history of his life, seems 
very singular. So high a personage as the only Son of God 
to be sent on a mission of peace and reconciliation to his 
chosen people, it certainly must be expected that his steps 
would have been directed to the most learned men of his na- 
tion, and that all offensive language would have been with- 
held, even admitting that the Jews were immoral to a very 
great degree. But the acquaintances of Jesus were the most 
ignorant and unlearned of the Jews, and were, from the na- 
ture of their employment, incapable of judging correctly of 
those signs and wonders which Jesus produced as proofs of 
12* 



1 3g FACTS AND PERSONAGES OF THE NEW TESTAMENT, 

his divine authority. The learned priests and scribes were 
the proper persons to have resorted to, as being alone com- 
petent to examine and explain all those predictions which 
related to Christ's coming, as foretold by the prophets of the 
Old Testament. What would be thought of a Minister Ex- 
traordinary, who, being sent from Washington to London on 
business of the first importance, should he. instead of repair- 
ing to London, make known his mission, by hints and indi- 
rect sayings, to some untaught fishermen, and, at the same 
time, abuse, and also make use of the most threatening ex- 
pressions towards the heads of the government to whom he 
was sent? Could it be expected that such conduct would 
be productive of any thing but failure 1 This is exactly 
similar to the conduct pursued by Jesus in his intercourse 
with the Jewish rulers. Can we, for a moment, admit that 
Infinite Wisdom could have sent such an ambassador on the 
all-important subject of the salvation of the human race? 
Jesus repeatedly reproaches the Jews in general, and his dis- 
ciples in particular, for their want of faith in his divine au- 
thority : at the same time, he makes use of sayings that it 
was impossible for them to understand. 

Jesus often referred to his treatment and death. How was 
it possible for them to understand this prediction ? It never 
could have entered the minds of the descendants of Abram, 
Isaac, and Jacob, that the true Messiah must suffer death 
before he could begin to restore the Jews to their former 
greatness. Instead of calling together the most talented and 
the most influential of the Jewish nation, and openly making 
known to them the object of his delegation, he associated 
with that portion of society whose knowledge of Jewish his- 
tory was very limited ; and, as if he dreaded publicity, often 
charged them to " tell no man that he was the Christ" — 
the very opposite course to what appears to be consistent 
with the important object of his coming. Taking the history 
of Christ's life, and also, more particularly, that of his teach- 
ing, he seems to have no settled plan whatever. At times, 
he seems to be in the strictest sense a Jew, not only as it re- 
gards his nation, but, also, most strictly following the law of 



FACTS AND PERSONAGES OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. \ 39 

Moses, submitting even to all its ceremonies. At other times, 
he opposes his sayings to those of the law of Moses, and 
openly forgives sins, without having any recourse to the offer- 
ing of sacrifice according to the Mosaic law. Sometimes, he 
speaks of being not only " Lord of all" but that they would 
" see him coming down in the clouds, in poicer and glory, to 
judge both quick and dead" ; and then, again, speaking of 
his poverty, as "not having where to lay his head." His 
living a life of wandering and mendicity, at times making a 
great excitement in one place, and suddenly departing to an- 
other, — these strange movements (admitting they occurred) 
entirely took off the attention of the heads of the Jewish 
people, and caused him to be considered as any thing but the 
promised restorer of Israel. In addition to his unsettled state, 
his repeated attacks on the rulers, holding them up to the 
scorn and contempt of the people, had generated such feel- 
ings in the minds of the priests and scribes, that they con- 
sidered him as a pretender to the Messiahship. Besides the 
hostility he showed to rich men, in speaking of the almost 
impossibility of their entering that kingdom which was in- 
cluded in all his teachings, namely, " The kingdom of hea- 
ven is at hand" when a rich man asked him " what he was 
to do to inherit eternal life?' 5 the answer of Jesus to him 
was, in addition to what the rich man had done, "Go and 
sell all, and give to the poor, and follow me." We are told 
that the rich man refused to do that, and Jesus then said of 
the rich, "how difficult it was for a rich man to enter the 
kingdom of heaven." This is the wild and levelling doc- 
trine taught by modern prophets. Nothing can be more un- 
reasonable and unjust. If such doctrines as these had, in 
in the time of Jesus, been practised, he would have drawn 
a host of idlers after him. Besides, to teach such an un- 
qualified practice as the one proposed to the rich man, must, 
at that time, have convinced every well-informed man how 
very unfit Jesus was to regulate society. I well know that 
Christians will consider this mode of examination of the 
sayings and doings of Jesus, as wicked and horrible ; as op- 
posing the weak judgment of man to the infinite wisdom of 



240 FACTS AND PERSONAGES OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. 

God. In reply to this, I would say, it is by investigating 
the teachings of Jesus as recorded in the New Testament, 
that we can perceive its defects, and thereby fully discover 
that the wise Ruler and Governor of all never sanctioned 
doctrines such as those said to have proceeded from Jesus. 

In taking a candid survey of the teaching, manner, and life 
of Jesus as it is written in the evangelists, we find that both 
he and his apostles lived a wandering life. How they raised 
funds, we know not, but it seems that Judas Iscariot was trea- 
surer ; and that he loved money better than he did his mas- 
ter, his betraying him to the rulers for thirty pieces of silver, 
fully proved. His having no fixed home, and following no 
regular and permanent employment, will throw some light 
on the system of morals which Jesus inculcated. Although 
some of his moral precepts were undoubtedly good, and cal- 
culated to make those happy who reduced them to practice, 
still others there were, which, if practised, would create dis- 
order — such as that which repudiates the taking any thought 
for the morrow. There is a vast difference in taking pru- 
dential thought for the morrow, and always looking at the 
gloomy side of what may possibly happen. Jesus makes no 
distinction ; but in his explanation he leaves the subject more 
obscure than if he had not left any comment at all. Jesus 
says, " Consider the lilies of the field; they toil not, neither do 
they spin, yet Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like 
one of these" And again, " Take no thought for the morroiv, 
ivhat ye shall eat or what ye shall drink, nor wherewithal ye 
shall be clothed, for your heavenly father knoweth ye have 
need of all these. But seek ye first the kingdom of heaven, 
and its righteousness, and all these things shall be added un- 
to you." Again, " If a man sue you at law and take your 
coat, let him have your cloak also : " and many more pre- 
cepts of the same nature, which are impracticable, and 
which must be left to prudence and common sense to carry 
into practice. 

But this very imperfect code of morals could be practised 
better by Jesus and his followers, considering their mode of 
life, than by others who had fixed homes. How Jesus and 



FACTS AND PERSONAGES OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. J4£ 

his apostles lived, as to their means to buy food or clothing, 
is unknown, — unless they lived the lives of mendicants, or, 
to speak more plainly, by what they could pick up, which is 
implied in the saying of Christ: " for," says he, " foxes have 
holes, and the birds of the air have nests, but the son of man 
has not lohere to lay his head.'''' To persons so situated, the 
taking thought for the morrow would be but of little use ; 
but by those persons who had homes, and who, by labor, 
had to provide for a family, such morality could not be prac- 
tised. We will give but one instance. 

Suppose a person had business from home for some weeks, 
and had given his wife orders to provide his linen, with other 
things, for his journey : and when the time arrived for him 
to leave home, his wife had, agreeable to the precepts of 
Jesus, taken no thought for the morrow, — would such an 
excuse satisfy the husband? No. Prudent forethought is 
connected with every thing moral ; and without it, society 
would be entirely broken up. But to persons living a wan- 
dering life, and not knowing from one day to another how 
they should fare ; and rising in the morning ignorant how it 
might turn out as to where they could lie down at night — to 
such, the sayings of Jesus would better apply. But to those 
who were settled and had fixed homes, the taking no thought 
for the morroio would break up every family who should at- 
tempt it. Had we been of the Jewish nation, and lived in 
the time of Jesus, in all probability we should have consid- 
ered the conduct of Christ very strange. Sometimes, he up- 
braided the Jews for their unbelief; and at others, charged 
his own apostles to keep as a secret that he was the Christ. 

The only way to understand this strange history of the 
Messiah is, to reject the account of his preaching altogether ; 
and to consider the whole of his ministry as being written 
by unknown persons from hearsay only. And it is nearly 
proof positive that no such person as Jesus existed, who said 
and did those things ascribed to him ; for it is utterly impos- 
sible by his history, admitting it to be correct, to gather, 
from the evangelists' account of it, for what he came, and 
also what end was answered to the Jews. They were left 



1 42 FACTS AND PERSONAGES OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. 

in a worse state than if Jesus had not besn among them : for, 
as the Jews mistook the object of his mission in consequence 
of the obscurity of his preaching, so the different sects, to this 
day, have not decided what is Christianity.' 

The history of the life and preaching of Jesus, is such a 
confusion of opposite doctrines, that, after eighteen hundred 
years' investigation, by men the most learned ; and after 
thousands and tens of thousands of volumes have been writ- 
ten, and commentators have endeavored to settle the differ- 
ent and conflicting accounts of what he taught, it still re- 
mains unsettled whether Christ is part God and part man, or 
whether he had a natural father, and is to be considered as 
nothing but a man, but of superior holiness of life. It is not 
settled whether Christ died for all, or only a part of the hu- 
man race. Again, it is not yet agreed on by Christian sects 
whether baptism should be extended to infants, or be admin- 
istered exclusively to adults. These, and many more sub- 
jects, are by different parties viewed differently ; at the same 
time all and each appeal to the New Testament in support of 
their respective creeds. 

I will now appeal to the reader whether a God of infinite 
wisdom and power would be the author of a religion which 
could give rise to so many contradictory doctrines ? which 
in the life-time of the propagator was not understood ? and 
for eighteen hundred years has been a fruitful field of dis- 
cord, war, and murder, instead of producing " peace on earth 
and good- will towards men?" It has never failed to be a 
source of war, hatred, malice, and ill-will towards men ; and 
nothing but the extension of Infidel Principles can secure 
the human race against a recurrence of those dreadful scenes, 
which, for ages, converted this otherwise happy world into 
a slaughter house of human victims. To my brother Infi- 
dels, then, I say, " Ye are the salt of the earth." If you 
cease from your noble exertions, the human race may again 
exhibit one mass of theological putrefaction. If Infinite wis- 
dom and power had ever undertaken to give a revelation to 
man, we should not have witnessed any blunders or mistakes. 
A revelation coming from such a being, would have been 



FACTS AND PERSONAGES OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. J 43 

directed to some beneficial end, and, like the eternal laws of 
the universe, the means made use of would not have failed 
to bring about the glorious end intended. But the Bible, in- 
cluding the Old and New Testaments, is not only unworthy 
of its pretended high authority ; but it portrays the all- wise 
Governor and Director of all worlds as a being changeable, 
cruel, and unjust. 

In addition to the obscure manner resorted to by Jesus in 
his speeches, he seldom conversed with any of his country- 
men of any distinction. It was always the lower ranks of 
society to whom he directed his sayings ; so that, to the most 
learned and opulent of the Jews, he was little known ; for 
when the higher powers were about to take him into custo- 
dy, to them he was unknown. It then became expedient to 
offer a reward to some one to point him out to the officers 
appointed to arrest him. Judas Iscariot was the man who 
seemed willing as well as competent, to conduct this ungrate- 
ful business. Jesus had often said that one of his apostles 
would betray him. There is something very strange in the 
saying of Jesus, that he had chosen twelve apostles and one 
would, betray him. If Jesus came to the Jews as the pro- 
mised and expected Messiah, the very idea of betraying him 
implies that he did not intend that the Jews should ever know 
him as the sent of God. At all events, Jesus, at the time 
Judas made him personally known to the chief priest and 
rulers, complained of the deceitfulness of Judas, which is full 
proof that he did not wish at that time to be put on his 
trial. 

But in what did this betraying consist? The Jewish rulers 
wished to have the man pointed out to them who had made 
so much noise and stir among the lower order of the people. 
Judas took the reward, and if Jesus were really sent by the 
Lord of all to his nation, this betraying was only giving him 
an opportunity of openly avowing his Messiahship. Here 
then was the time for him to show such signs and wonders 
as to prevent any doubts as to who he was, and of the im- 
portant object of his coming ; for if he came into the ivorld to 
die for the sins of mankind^ Judas then was of vast impor- 



|44 FACTS AND PERSONAGES OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. 

tance in bringing about that which was before ordained by 
the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God. But if 
he (Jesus) did not intend to suffer death, then, and only 
then, had he cause to complain of Judas as a traitor. Jesus, 
in speaking of Judas, says, "it had been good for that man 
if he had never been born : " but if the salvation of mankind 
depended on the death of Christ, a more important person 
than Judas was never born of woman. Whether such a man 
as Jesus ever lived or not, it is impossible to determine ; but 
admitting that such a man as he is said to have been, did 
exist, it does appear that his life was a scene of incongruities 
bordering on insanity. And the whole of his public ministry 
was so erratic, that it seems as if he had no specific object in 
view. 



CHAPTER IV. 



ON THE FACTS AND PERSONAGES OF THE 
NEW TESTAMENT. 

Nothing can be more unreasonable than to admit, for a 
moment, that the Almighty Power which governs the vast 
unbounded universe, should be the author, either directly or 
indirectly, of a system which has produced so much cruelty, 
carnage, and bloodshed, as the Christian Religion — a very 
large portion of which has been brought about by the discord- 
ant doctrines attributed to the preaching of Christ. If Cod is 
its author, (which is more than doubtful,) if, in addition to the 
evils with which human nature is afflicted, he had intended 
to make man's misery complete, the Christian religion seems 
well adapted to secure that end, for it is the key-stone of hu- 
man wretchedness. A great amount of evil has resulted from 
the different sects that have arisen from the New Testament. 



FACTS AND PERSONAGES OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. ^45 

A few particulars will suffice to show that the various doc- 
trines, all gathered from and founded on the sayings of 
Christ, have created discord and persecution among the fol- 
lowers of Jesus, the pretended pacificator of the human race. 

One of the most destructive sayings of Jesus — one which 
has entailed on the human race a system of continual evil 
and which bids fair to last for ages to come, is the delegated 
power given to the Apostle Peter, and which is, to the present 
day, claimed by his successors. Peter, being asked by Christ 
as to what the Jews thought of him, answered that "some 
thought that one of the old prophets had returned from the 
dead, while others thought differently." But, says Jesus to 
Peter, "Whom do you say that I am?" Give me your 
opinion. Peter replied, " Thou art the Christ, the Son of 
God" This answer was responded to by Jesus, and to 
Peter he said, "-Blessed art thou. Simon Barjona, for flesh 
and blood has not revealed it unto thee, but my Father who is 
in heaven; " and Jesus added, " Thou art Peter, and on this 
rock will I build my church, and the gates of hell shall not 
2?revail against it. And I will give unto thee the keys of the 
kingdom of heaven, and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth 
shall be bound in heaven ; and ivhatsoever thou shalt loose on 
earth shall be loosed in heaven." (Matthew xvi., 19.) 

After appearing to give Peter unlimited power, he tells him 
that "the chief priest and scribes will put him to death, and 
that he should be raised the third day." Peter, not under- 
standing this sad reverse, and out of regard for his master, 
rebuked him, but very mildly, by saying, "Be it far from 
thee, Lord, this shall not be unto thee." 1 At this. Jesus seemed 
to lose his temper, and said, "Get thee behind me, Satan, 
thou art an offence to me." Jesus then tells Peter that " The 
son of man should come in the glory of his Father, with his 
angels, to reward every man according to his works." Jesus 
then adds, "Verily, I say unto you, there be some standing 
here which shall not taste of death till they see the son of man 
coming in his kingdom."' 

Now it was not possible for Peter, or any one else, to un- 
derstand Christ's meaning. He tells them things concerning 
13 



|46 FACTS AND PERSONAGES OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. 

his second coming, before they understood his object as it re- 
lated to his Messiahship. Besides, what he told them would 
surely come to pass in their time, is not yet fulfilled. This 
obscure mode of teaching runs through all his speeches ; and 
he continually reproaches them for their want of faith in his 
doctrines. A method so incoherent appears to approach to 
insanity. 

But to return more immediately to the power given to Pe- 
ter. A power so undefined as was given to Peter, at a time 
when he did not even comprehend the final destiny of Jesus, 
cannot be admitted to have been given. But as this part of 
Christ's history was written long after his leaving this earth, 
the writer, whoever he was, wrote from hearsay : and there 
being no one to question its truth, it became, like many other 
sayings, reputed as coming from Jesus. Inconsistent as it 
was, it became one of the doctrines of the church ; and the 
successors of Peter retain it in the Catholic Church at the 
present day. This original power given unto Peter is still 
invested in the person of the Pope of Rome, and through him 
down to the rest of the clergy. This power, said to have 
been given by Jesus to the church, has been productive of 
discord. The Popes have held and acted upon it as a divine 
prerogative bequeathed by Christ to his church, which has 
been denied by other sects, so that quarrels have been the 
consequence. And hence both rich and poor, learned and 
unlearned, have, and do still, confess to the priest their sins, 
and receive pardon. 

All the evils that have resulted from such foolery, sprang 
from the authority said to have been by Jesus given to Peter. 
What a rich harvest have the priests reaped from this dele- 
gated power ! Can men, possessing one grain of common 
sense, believe that such power was ever given to mortal man ? 
But the different sects will say, that Jesus never intended 
that it should be thus understood. This does not mend the 
matter at all ; for God must have foreseen what use would 
be made of it. The consequences, therefore, rest with Him. 
But are we prepared to admit that Infinite Wisdom would 



FACTS AND PERSONAGES OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. £47 

have left unguarded, doctrines of such vast importance to the 
peace and harmony of his church ? 

Again, the shocking consequences which have followed 
the institution of the Sacrament, or Lord's Supper. Jesus, 
according as Christians believe, instituted the breaking of 
bread and drinking of wine, as an emblem of his body being 
broken, and his blood being poured out as a sacrifice for sin. 
But this doctrine or ordinance, being undefined, the different 
sects of Christians have practised it under the impression of 
its sacredness, taking its literal meaning instead of regarding 
it as a token of remembrance. The Catholic believes, or pro- 
fesses so to do, that after the descendants of Peter have 
prayed over, and consecrated, the bread and wine, its nature 
is changed into the real body and blood of the Saviour. One 
horrible consequence which has resulted from such tom- 
foolery, has been, the burning of hundreds of human beings 
at the stake, for not admitting so important a truth. This 
evil, and many others, has arisen from the obscure doctrines 
taught by Jesus, whom the scriptures describe as being the 
light of the world. Jesus, before being taken into heaven, 
told his disciples that it was for their good that he should 
leave them ; for, to make up for his absence, he would send 
the Holy Ghost, who would be a comforter, and would lead 
them into all truth. How far this promise has been fulfilled, 
we have the evidence of eighteen hmidred years ; for, imme- 
diately after Jesus had left his church, they became divided, 
and ever since they have butchered each other without 
mercy. This is the comfort, then, that Christians have re- 
ceived by the coming of the Holy Ghost. 

Another fruitful field of slaughter and blood has been 
thrown open in consequence of Jesus withholding from the 
Christian church the real nature of his being. So confused 
was he on this subject, that, even now, Christians do not 
agree. Some contend for his manhood alone, and that, like 
all other men, he had an earthly father, — the Unitarians, for 
instance, and other sects. But the real Orthodox contend 
that Jesus was born of a pure virgin, who, though a mother 
was yet a virgin. These contradictory views are supported 



148 FACTS AND PERSONAGES OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. 

by the life and history of Jesus. Does it require any thing 
more than common sense to repudiate the divinity of a Book 
containing such opposite statements of the same accounts, or 
facts ? It is the uncertainty of what Christianity really is, 
which has caused so much evil in the world ; and this has 
arisen from the dark and obscure mode of teaching attributed 
to the Son of God. Those Christians who have embraced 
views so opposite to each other, but who have taken them 
from the same Word of God, have, in every age, been the 
most implacable enemies, and have seldom failed, when 
power has been in their hands, to inflict the most cruel tor- 
ments on those who differed from them. Indeed, the history 
of the Christian Church is one continued record of persecu- 
tion and cruelty. 

I was, for some few months, called on by an Orthodox 
deacon, who earnestly requested me to reflect on the danger- 
ous situation I was in as an unbeliever, being totally unpre- 
pared for a future state. I asked, if I were in a worse state 
than an Unitarian 1 You admit, said I, that they, many of 
them, are good men, and will not be excluded from heaven. 
He replied, that, morally speaking, they might be good; but, 
he added, that my claim to heaven stood on equal, if not su- 
perior ground to theirs, as they did not believe in the vicari- 
ous sacrifice of Jesus for sin ; consequently, they had neither 
part nor lot in the matter. 

All the intolerance and persecution which have deluged 
the earth with blood, have arisen from Christianity not hav- 
ing ever been defined. Hundreds of different creeds have 
been founded on the sayings and doings of Jesus and his 
apostles, as found in the New Testament ; and there are yet 
materials for many more. Each sect regards all other sects 
as being wickedly obstinate, and resisting the truth. All 
this misery and destruction, arising from the different con- 
struction of the doctrines said to have been delivered by 
Jesus, would never have taken place, if the all-wise Ruler 
of the Universe had dictated them ; but the evils they have 
brought on the world can never be reconciled as coming from 
a Being of infinite wisdom, power, and goodness. If such 



FACTS AND PERSONAGES OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. |49 

a Being had ever given a revelation to the human race, there 
is no doubt but that it would have been adapted to man's 
reasoning powers ; that mistakes would not have opposed iis 
progress ; thousands of books would not have been required 
to explain what Infinite Wisdom had proclaimed ; no fires 
of martyrdom would have been lighted, to compel men to 
believe what none could understand. 

If God had been the author of the Christian religion, it 
would, like all his works, have been so arranged, and the 
means so wisely adapted, that the intention or end would be 
fully answered. But the religion of the Bible, both the Old 
and New Testament, is a continual trial of experiments on 
man. And what has religion made of him'? Is he generally 
fit to be trusted, in Word or action ? Is he generally humane 
and tender-hearted 1 No ! very far from it. Society is, in 
its best state, very defective in humanity. The accumula- 
tion of riches is the Christian's object Gold is the god he 
adores. 

It is impossible for Christians to deny that the persecutions 
and burnings, the cruel torture, and every infliction of cru- 
elty practised by one sect towards others, who honestly dif- 
fered from the most powerful, were all in consequence of the 
different sects embracing and maintaining opposite doctrines; 
all of which were founded on the teaching of Jesus. Can 
we, then, believe that the Almighty Ruler of all worlds 
would have sent his Son to teach mankind something that 
should involve the human race in a never-ending quarrel, by 
teaching so obscurely that two persons, equally honest and 
intelligent, should form opposite opinions; knowing, as the 
Almighty must, that such teaching would engender hatred 
and malice, and be the cause of producing unheard of cru- 
elty and torture ? 

How dreadful it is to reflect on the mad fury of religious 
zeal, when the persecutor and the persecuted are equally 
sincere! The first, believing he ought to put to death those 
who differ from him, for the glory of God ; and the latter, 
considering that his crown of glory can be obtained only by 
suffering death the most horrid to bear ! Poor, unfortunate 
13* 



J5Q FACTS AND PERSONAGES OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. 

creatures ! Both parties are objects of pity. The evils re- 
sulting from the different doctrines collected from the teach- 
ing of Jesus, have, for eighteen hundred years, converted the 
otherwise happy world into a pious mad-house. The doc- 
trine of human depravity, although it may not have been so 
productive of evil as some others, is a libel on human na- 
ture. It is taught by Jesus ; the preachers repeat it weekly 
from the pulpit ; and the necessity of a new birth results 
from it. A thousand pulpits thunder forth vengeance against 
man because of the hardness of his heart. We are told that 
he has rebelled against his God; that he is at enmity with 
him, and that he has turned his back to his Maker. 

All this is done to humble man, and to bring about his 
conversion. The Scriptures also represent the Almighty as 
angry with poor, feeble man, and that he will eventually 
pour out his wrath in never-ending torments ! These doc- 
trines, so earnestly taught, and so fully credited, constitute a 
principal part of what comes from ten thousand preachers ; 
and if we examine the truth of them, none can we find. As 
it respects man's rebelling, and turning his back on his 
Creator, man's error and misfortune has ever been in trying 
to find out something about his Maker. 

This curiosity, no doubt, originated in a state of ignorance. 
And even in the present day, man has yet to learn the in- 
utility of every attempt to discover any thing as to the being 
and nature of a Supreme Power that is supposed to govern 
the universe. We are lost in wonder and admiration when 
we contemplate the mighty universe ! but of the Grand Regu- 
lator of all, we are, and no doubt shall ever remain, in total 
ignorance. It is a libel on man, then, to teach that human 
beings are at enmity against God. I ask my readers, both 
male and female, whether they ever had those feelings of 
hatred against the unknown Governor of the grand and 
sublime universe? But Christian priests proclaim it; and to 
those who believe it, it is a source of lamentation ; and being 
under the belief that man is. the natural enemy of God, the 
minds of such persons become prostrated, and then this 



FACTS AND PERSONAGES OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. \§\ 

otherwise happy world is despised and neglected for a fu- 
ture state of supposed bliss. 

Let any one attend a Protracted Meeting, where there may 
be some hundreds of persons, and among the number, many 
youths of both sexes ; both young and old are appealed to 
by the speakers, who describe them as enemies of God, and 
as having turned their backs on the God of goodness. They 
become alarmed, not having before conceived that they could 
have been so wicked. I have seen upwards of fifty, at one 
time, sobbing and crying and imploring mercy, who, poor, 
weak mortals, until this foolishness of being at enmity with 
God was preached to them, had no conception of their dread- 
ful enormities and danger. By exciting the feelings with 
falsehood, this process is called conversion and the work of 
the Holy Ghost. At the same time that the most virtuous 
females are denounced as deserving damnation for their 
wickedness, and told that, without repentance, their future 
state will be wretched to all eternity, should one word de- 
rogatory to the character of these females, thus represented 
by the priests, be spoken by any body else, an action for 
slander would be instituted. 

But as long as people will give up their reason, and be 
hoodwinked with the nonsense that God is angry, and that 
they are every moment in danger of falling into hell, so long 
will the Christian priesthood riot in profusion and plenty, by 
dealing out damnation to those whose only crime is enmity 
against God. So completely hoodwinked is man, that he 
attends weekly, and pays well into the bargain, to hear the 
priest deal out endless damnation to nine-tenths of the hu- 
man race ; and it is ten chances to one that he also is in- 
cluded among the subjects of the Devil ! Should an Orthodox 
preacher, for a few Sundays, preach on moral subjects, and 
consider that morality was the one thing needful in the 
Christian Church, the congregation would complain that 
their souls required more substantial nourishment. The 
preacher must return to the old mode of teaching, and again 
shake them over the lake of fire ! And hence it follows, 
that, as the people are not satisfied without having the 



|52 FACTS AND PERSONAGES OF THE NEW TESTAMENT, 

wrath of God the constant theme, the preacher gives it as 
they wish to have it. An angry God ; a cunning, crafty and 
tempting Devil ; and the enmity of man's Wicked heart : this 
is the set of tools by which the Christian teacher carries on 
his theological trade. The discordancy of religious opinions, 
and all of them taken from the doctrines as taught by Jesus 
and the apostles, each preacher referring to the favorite pas- 
sages which support his views, is and Will be, a never-end- 
ing theme of disputation ; and at some future period, may 
renew the practice of burning each other alive for God's 
glory. 

Nothing but the spread of Infidelity can completely stop 
this dreadful evil. We have only to suppose, that, at some 
future time, the savages who have been what is called con- 
verted by preachers of opposite sects, such as the Calvinist 
and the Universalist, or the Trinitarians and Unitarians, 
should, by some cause not now foreseen, be left by the mis-; 
sionaries to support the Christian church ; then the savage 
converts of different sects would be very likely to fall on 
each other, and the fires of Smithfield, which Infidelity, the 
companion of humanity, has extinguished, may again blaze 
on the Islands of the Pacific Ocean. This is a very probable 
case ; for, in the present day, the same Bible is the text book 
of all denominations, and all of them would persecute if they 
had but the power. Christianity is now what it ever has 
been, and what it ever will be, a persecuting religion ; and, 
although the fires of martyrdom cease to torment the human 
race, the embers are still emitting smoke, and may again be 
rekindled. Nothing short of unbelief in all divine revelation, 
openly and fearlessly avowed, can guarantee the human 
family against a renewal of the religious butchery of past 
ages. 



FACTS AND PERSONAGES OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. ^53 



CHAPTER V. 

ON THE FACTS AND PERSONAGES IN THE NEW 
TESTAMENT. 

Taking the Orthodox views of Christianity, there are four 
personages connected with divine revelation, and each has 
a different department to act out. The first three are the 
Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. Leaving, for the present, the 
first three, our attention will, in this chapter, be directed to 
the fourth and last, namely, the Devil. And so much con- 
sequence do Christian sects attach to the existence of the 
Devil, that, to deny it, or even to doubt it, would be enough 
to separate a member from the church. Religious people 
must have a Devil ; for, as the Devil, by his incessant cun- 
ning and temptation, is the indirect author of men's sins, so, 
on the other hand, the Saviour stands ready to ransom the 
guilty. It then follows, that the sinner, after all, stands on 
pretty good ground ; for, if the Devil tempts him to commit 
one-half of his crimes, and the Saviour pardons the other 
half, man is not in much danger of being condemned. 

In this chapter, it will be seen, what an amount of evil 
has arisen to the peace and happiness of the human race, 
not from what the Devil really has done, but from what 
mortals have believed he has done, by supposing him to 
have almost unlimited power. And here we can perceive, 
what* evil has transpired from what never has, nor ever 
could have taken place, but from what has been believed to 
have really happened. This has been in consequence of the 
credulity of the human mind when reason is departed from, 
and man becomes the creature of imagination. It is then 
that man can give credit to the most glaring absurdities, and 
honestly reject the plain dictates of common sense. It is 



J54 FACTS AND PERSONAGES OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. 

then that he leaves the solid earth on which he treads, and 
launches into the region of airy nothings ; and, by the duc- 
tility of his mind, creates beings of so terrific a nature, th#t, 
at the thought of them, the stoutest hearts have been made 
to quail. This is strictly true as to the existence and influ- 
ence of the Devil. t 

That the New Testament sanctions the existence of the 
Devil, there remains not a doubt. The temptation of Christ 
is proof positive. But that alone should not suffice. The 
case of Mary Magdalene, and also the expulsion of devils 
by Jesus and his disciples, put all doubt out of the question. 
When we consider the terrible consequences of this belief on 
the peace and happiness of the human race, we can but pity 
the deluded creatures, who, in different ages of Christianity, 
have been sufferers for the supposed commission of a crime 
that never was, nor ever will be committed. All nations, in 
all ages, have credited, to a lesser or a greater extent, the 
existence of a being, or beings, of a malignant nature, pos- 
sessing power beyond man's conception ; who, from some 
cause unknown, delighted in doing mischief to the human 
family. And ever since the introduction of the Christian 
religion, it has been credited that such wicked spirits could 
delegate power to human beings equally wicked as them- 
selves ; by which power, they, for a time, could vent their 
malice, and do wonders by selling themselves, or by some 
infernal contract could do harm to, or among those of, their 
neighbors who were so unfortunate as to fall under their dis- 
pleasure. 

This sin, which never was, and never can be committed, has 
ever been thought the worst of crimes ; and less mercy shown 
to the supposed guilty person than if guilty of murder itself. 
And. so extensively has it been credited, and so great has 
been its influence, that laws have, in most nations, been pass- 
ed for its punishment ; and thousands, and tens of thousands 
have been put to death under circumstances of torture at 
which the human heart sickens. Surely, if our minds are 
not entirely darkened by the ignorance of past ages, we must 
be able to see that the Bible has been the most destructive 



FACTS AND PERSONAGES OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. j_55 

book that was ever written ; and is unworthy to claim infi- 
nite power, wisdom, and goodness for its author. If the be- 
lief in witchcraft and sorcery had been confined to the ignor- 
ant and unlearned of all nations, its evil would have been so 
limited that not much misery would have followed, because 
men of good sense and talent would have stood in the way 
of its progress. But, unfortunately, this has not so happened. 
Its evil influence has ascended to the highest classes in socie- 
ty. The king on his throne, and the learned judge seated 
in the chair of impartial justice, have partaken of its deadly 
contagion. The reader will now be presented with facts of 
the most undoubted authority, showing what wretchedness 
has occurred from believing in the existence and malignity 
of the Devil — a doctrine supported by divine revelation. 

The first fact that is brought forward, took place at Bury, 
St. Edmonds, in the County of Suffolk, (England,) in the 
year 1664. Amy Duny and Rose Callender, two poor 
women, who were ignorant, and of the coarsest materials, 
had, for eight years previous, the reputation of being witches. 
So horrid were they considered, that the fishermen would not 
sell them fish, and the boys in the streets were taught to fly 
from them with horror. The principal charges against them 
were, that the children of two families had been many times 
seized with fits in which they exclaimed that they saw Amy 
Duny and Rose Callender coming to torment them. They 
vomited, and in their vomit were often found pins, and once 
or twice a two-penny nail. 

One or two of the children died. To support these alle- 
gations, a wagoner appeared, whose wagon had been twice 
overturned in one morning in consequence of the curses of 
one of these witches. Sir Matthew Hale presided at the 
trial, assisted by Sir Thomas Brown, two of the most able 
and learned Judges then in England. Those two poor 
women were by the jury found guilty, and hanged on the 
seventeenth day of March, 1664, one week after their trial. 

Sir Matthew Hale refused to sum up the evidence, but left 
it to the jury, to whom he said, u That the Scriptures left no 
doubt that there was such a thing as witchcraft : and in* 



256 FACTS AND PERSONAGES OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. 

structed them that all they had to do, was, first, to consider 
whether the children were really bewitched ; and, secondly, 
whether the witchcraft was sufficiently brought home to the 
prisoners at the bar." The Jury found them guilty, and 
they were hanged as before stated. 

Here we have a shocking account of the credulity of the 
human mind. The whole English nation were laboring 
under a mental delusion. Here it was not to be said, " O, ye 
of little faith! " but, " O, ye religious madmen ! your faith 
has changed your nature from kindness and pity, to per- 
form acts of cruelty which the savage cannibal would shud- 
der to put into practice." I would here remind the reader, 
that Judge Hale was considered a just and humane Judge. 
What a dreadful state a nation must be in, when such laws 
as have been referred to, were in full force, and the jurispru- 
dence of England was, as it were, under the influence of a 
Being the supposed enemy of man ! And it may in truth 
be said, that an unknown and invisible world governed one 
that was known and visible. 

Now, in the case of those two poor women, who were 
really murdered, the question arises, who were their mur- 
derers ? Was it Judge Hale, or the Jury ? It was neither. 
It was the Bible — a book which records the existence of a 
Devil, the sworn enemy of God and men. Reader ! can you 
withhold pity from two poor creatures in such circumstances, 
and can you still praise to the skies a Book that has made 
the best and wisest of men cruel brutes, — who, at the same 
time, were happy to have a chance to make war against the 
Devil, by destroying two helpless beings whose only crime. 
in all probability, was poverty and ignorance ? Every hu- 
mane unbeliever must exclaim, "OGod! O Nature ! what 
havoc have ignorance and superstition made among your 
works ! " 

Nothing could be better calculated to give importance to 
the credibility of the activity and influence of the Devil's 
employing and entering into a league with wicked and ill- 
disposed persons, after Christianity became established, than 
the Scripture account of the Devil's tempting Jesus, and en* 



FACTS AND PERSONAGES OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. \Fft 

deavoring to make a contract with him to obey and submit 
to, his proposals. But as the Devil was non-suited by the 
Saviour of mankind, it might be expected that after Jesus 
had left this world, the Devil would endeavor to enlist into 
his service many of those who had embraced the religion of 
that Saviour whom he had tried to seduce. 

In the course of time, in the middle or dark ages, when 
men's imaginations were active, and reason was nearly ban- 
ished from among Christains, it became a matter of faith and 
certainty, that persons in different towns and villages had 
really entered into a contract, for a certain number of years, 
with the Devil himself; and to carry out and complete this 
supposed covenant with the enemy of God and man, a no- 
tion was started of the Devil's Sabbath, on which, a place 
being appointed, wicked men and women could meet and 
contract with Old Lucifer himself; and books were printed! 
to show the nature of the contract. After this strange opin- 
ion became fully credited, and witchcraft Was made a crime- 
punishable by law, those persons who were accused of witch- 
craft were tortured, in order to compel them to own that they 
had attended the Sabbath of the Devil. 

Another fact will now be stated, to show what ideas of the- 
Devil's influence prevailed in England and Scotland, in the 
days of Elizabeth. James the First, of England, who, suc- 
ceeding Elizabeth, was born in 1566, was the only direct 
heir to the Crown of Scotland, and had a prospect of suc- 
ceeding Elizabeth in England, which he did on the death of 
the Queen. James had witnessed a great number of prose- 
cutions for witchcraft, in Scotland, in the reign of Mary ; 
and he, as might be expected, most firmly believed that the 
Devil was very active in the country of his birth ; so that,, 
when he came to the Crown of England, his mind was di- 
rected to put a stop to the prevailing crime of witchcraft, 
and to break up the Devil's Sabbath, he believing that num- 
bers of his English subjects were visitors to those unholy 
meetings. A circumstance will now be mentioned which 
will fully prove what views the people of England and Scot- 
land had of the activity of the Devil in drawing persons into 
14 



X5S FACTS AND PERSONAGES OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. 

his service and kingdom; for it is impossible to evade the 
truth, that the existence and opposition of the Devil against 
the progress of the Gospel, was strengthened by what had 
been recorded of the Devil in the New Testament. 

James the First, of England, is here cited to show what 
was then the prevailing opinion of the existence of witch- 
craft in that kingdom. And although it is painful to reflect 
on the sufferings of thousands, it may. by its recital, assist 
those who are still somewhat in darkness, to discover how 
the human race have been deluded. James the First had 
fixed his mind on a daughter of the King of Denmark. A 
splendid embassy was sent from England to conclude the 
treaty of marriage, and to bring home James's royal con- 
sort ; but the ships met with violent storms, and instead of 
arriving at the capital of Scotland, the news came that the 
ship in which the Princess had taken passage, was driven 
back on the coast of Norway ; nothing uncommon in those 
seas at that season of the year. The King, being disap- 
pointed, sailed to the place where the shattered ships lay, 
and the marriage was consummated; and the King and 
Gtueen remained at Copenhagen, and did not arrive at Ed- 
inburgh until the first of May, 1590. The storm was, after 
their return, considered to be the result of some supernatural 
interference. 

The King, after his return, suspecting that witchcraft had 
something to do in raising the storm which drove his in- 
tended wife on the coast of Norway, set to work to make 
discoveries ; and two of his female servants were suspected 
of causing the storm before alluded to. Their names were 
Geillis Duncan and Agnes Sampson. Both of them were 
put to the torture to extort confession. These poor young 
women, broken down and exhausted by so dreadful an ope- 
ration, became willing to answer such questions as this royal 
blockhead had prepared to put to them. Agnes Sampson 
told the King, that she, in company with two hundred other 
witches, had sailed in sieves from Leith to North Berwick 
Church; how they had there encountered the Devil in per- 
son; how they had feasted with him, and what obscenities 



FACTS AND PERSONAGES OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. ^59 

bad been practised. She related, that in this voyage they 
had drowned a cat, having first baptized it; and that immedi- 
ately a dreadful storm arose, and in this very storm the King's 
ship had been separated from the rest of the fleet. In con- 
sequence of this confession, Agnes Sampson was condemned 
to the flames. The system of torture resorted to under cir- 
cumstances of suspicion, compelled poor suffering creatures 
to answer any questions put to them to satisfy their cruel 
tormentors ; and in many cases, after all, they were put to 
death. King James the First published his Dialogues on 
Demonology in three books. But many years after he re- 
nounced his belief in the real existence of witchcraft alto- 
gether ; and in the latter part of his reign, declared that all 
he had done was the effect of delusion. 

These were dreadful times for humanity. Thousands and 
tens of thousands of victims suffered every kind of torture 
that savage ingenuity could devise ; and what made it the 
more to be deplored, the ignorant creatures who inflicted the 
torments were honest in their abhorrence of those unfortu- 
nate persons, who suffered for what was, in those dark ages, 
considered the worst of crimes. In what horror, then, were 
persons held who could be so wicked as to have dealings 
with the devil? The case of James is here recorded, to 
show the reader that the belief in witchcraft was not con- 
fined to the ignorant and unlettered portion of society ; but 
that England, and Scotland, and, it may be said, every 
Christian nation with its government, and the army also, 
were all laboring under this delusion. And the truth of its 
existence was then, and is now, supported by the New Tes- 
tament, and fully confirmed by the Devil's temptation of 
Jesus, the Christian's Son of God ; for the desire manifested 
by the Devil to entice Jesus to enter into his service, did, in 
those dark ages, strengthen persons in the conclusion that 
the Devil, although he failed to seduce the Redeemer, would 
continue to enlist, if possible, great numbers into his service. 
The firm belief of his attempts on the Son of God would 
dispose persons to credit the fact that people of abandoned 
characters would hire themselves to the Devil. In the days 



£gQ FACTS AND PERSONAGES OF THE NEW TESTAMENT, 

of Oliver Cromwell, a story is recorded by Echard, the his- 
torian, as shockingly illustrative of the credulity of the age 
in which he lived. It takes its date from the morning of the 
third of September, 1651, when Cromwell gained the battle 
of Worcester against Charles the Second. It is on the 
authority of Colonel Lindsey, who was senior captain in 
Cromwell's own regiment. The story recorded is, " That 
on the morning of the battle, Cromwell took with him Colo- 
nel Lindsey to the side of a wood, not far from the army, 
and bade him alight and follow him into the wood, and to 
take particular notice of what he saw and heard. And hav- 
ing secured their horses, and walked some little way into 
the wood, Lindsey began to turn pale, and to be seized with 
horror from some unknown cause. Cromwell asked him 
how he felt himself? He answered, that he was in such a 
trembling that he never felt the like in all the conflicts and 
battles he had ever been engaged in. 'How, now,' said 
Cromwell, ' what ! troubled with the vapors ? Come for- 
ward, man.' They had not gone far, before Lindsey stood 
still, and said it was impossible for him to go one step fur- 
ther. Upon which, Cromwell called him a faint hearted fool, 
and bade him stand there and observe, or witness. And 
then the General, advancing to some distance from him, met 
a grave elderly man with a roll of parchment in his hand, 
who delivered it to Cromwell, and he eagerly perused it. 
Lindsey, a little recovered from his fear, heard several loud 
words between them, particularly Cromwell said, 'this is 
but for seven years, I was to have it for one and twenty.' 
The grave elderly man told him positively, it could not be 
for more than seven. Cromwell cried with great fierceness, 
' It shall, however, be for fourteen years.' Cromwell then 
took his parchment, and returning to Lindsey, ' Now, Lind- 
sey,' said he, ' the battle is our own, 1 long to be engaged.' 
It did then commence. After the first charge, Lindsey de- 
serted his post and rode away with all speed to a friend 's in 
the county of Suffolk, and never returned. Cromwell offered 
a great reward for him, dead or alive. Cromwell died on 
that day seven years, September 3, 1658." 



FACTS AND PERSONAGES OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. 161 

It is of no consequence whether this story is true or not. 
It fully proves that at that time it was believed, that men 
sold themselves to the Devil. 



CHAPTER VL 



ON THE FACTS AND PERSONAGES IN THE NEW 
TESTAMENT. 

Two more remarkable cases will, in this chapter, be made 
known to the reader, to show that for hundreds of years the 
Devil, or rather the belief in his existence, was a source of 
terror to all Christians, and must have operated on almost 
every transaction in which society were engaged. In almost 
every town and village, to be surrounded with wicked beings 
who had entered into a contract with Satan to be empower- 
ed to perform deeds of darkness which no prudence could 
guard against, must have had an influence on the peace and 
safety of almost every family. But now, that the delusion 
has nearly passed away, and mankind are no longer subject 
to such terror, we may be happy to think that our lives are 
exempted from the evils which afflicted our forefathers. And 
nothing but an open avowal of our unbelief in all systems 
which in any way sanction the existence of a Being who has 
made a large portion of the human family crazy, can prevent 
a recurrence of past ignorance with all its baneful conse- 
quences. 

Joan of Arc, called the Maid of Orleans, an unfortunate 
creature, demands our pity. Her tragical history ought to 
impel every humane person to do all in his power to prevent 
mortals from again witnessing scenes of so dreadful a nature. 

Henry the Fifth, of England, won the decisive battle of 
Agincourt in the year 1415, and some time after concluded 
14* 



162 FACTS AND PERSONAGES OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. 

a treaty with the reigning King of France, by which he was 
recognized, in case of that King's death, as heir to the throne. 
Henry the Fifth died in the year 1422, and Charles the Sixth, 
of France, in less than two months after. Henry the Sixth 
was only nine months old, at the time of his father's death ; 
but such was the deplorable state of France, that he was the 
same year proclaimed King in Paris, and for some years 
seemed to have every prospect of a fortunate reign. John, 
Duke of Bedford, the King's uncle, was declared Regent of 
France. The son of Charles the Sixth was reduced to the 
last extremity. Orleans was the last strong town in the heart 
of the kingdom which held out in his favor; and that place 
seemed on the point of surrendering to the conqueror. 

"In this fearful crisis, appeared Joan of Arc, and, in the 
most incredible manner, turned the whole tide of affairs. 
She was a servant in a poor inn at Demremi, and was accus- 
tomed to perform the coarsest offices, and, in particular, to 
ride the horses to a neighboring stream of water. Of course, 
the situation of France and her hereditary King formed the 
universal subject of conversation, and Joan became deeply 
impressed with the lamentable state of her country, and the 
misfortunes of her King. By dint of perpetual meditation, 
and feeling in her breast the promptings of energy and enter- 
prize, she conceived the idea that she was destined by Heaven 
to be the deliverer of France. Agreeably to the state of intel- 
lectual knowledge at that period, she persuaded herself that 
she saw visions and held communications with the saints. 
She then had conversations with St. Margaret and St. Cath- 
erine of Fierbois. They told her that she was commissioned 
by God to raise the siege of Orleans. She then presented 
herself to Baudricourt Governor of the neighboring town of 
Vaucouleurs, telling him her commission, and requiring him 
to send her to the King at Chinon. Baudricourt, at first, 
made light of her application ; but her importunity, and the 
ardor she expressed, at length excited him. He put on her 
man's attire, gave her arms, and sent her, under an escort of 
two gentlemen and their attendants, to Chinon. Here she 
immediately addressed the King in person, who had pur- 



FACTS AND PERSONAGES OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. ^3 

posely hid himself behind his courtiers, that she might not 
know him. She then delivered her message, and offered, in 
the name of the Most High, to raise the siege of Orleans, and 
conduct King Charles to Rheims to be anointed. 

" Desperate as was then the state of affairs, Charles and his 
ministers immediately resolved to seize the occasion that of- 
fered, and put forward Joan as an instrument to revive the 
prostrate courage of his subjects. He had no sooner deter- 
mined on this, than he pretended to submit the truth of her 
mission to the most rigorous trial. He called together an 
assembly of theologians and doctors, who rigorously examined 
Joan, and pronounced in her favor. He referred the question 
to the Parliament of Poictiers, and they who, previously to 
meeting, were persuaded that she was an impostor, became 
convinced of her inspiration. She was mounted on a high- 
bred steed, furnished with a consecrated banner, and marched, 
escorted by a body of five thousand men, to the relief of Or- 
leans. The French, strongly convinced by so plain an inter- 
position of Heaven, resumed the courage to which they had 
long been strangers. 

"Such a phenomenon was exactly suited to the supersti- 
tion and credulity of the age. The English were staggered 
with the rumors that every where went before her, and struck 
with a degree of apprehension and terror that they could not 
shake off. The garrison, informed of her approach, made a 
sally on the other side of the town, and Joan and her convoy 
entered without opposition. She displayed her standard in 
the market place, and was received as a celestial deliverer. 
She appears to have been endowed with a prudence not 
inferior to her courage and spirit of enterprise. With great 
docility, she caught the hints of the commanders by whom 
she was surrounded, and, convinced of her own want of ex- 
perience and skill, delivered them to the forces as the dictates 
of Heaven. Thus the knowledge and discernment of the 
Generals were brought into play at the same time that their 
suggestions acquired new weight when falling from the lips 
of the Heaven-instructed heroine. A second convoy arrived, 
the wagons and troops passed between the redoubts of the 



!§£ FACTS AND PERSONAGES OF THE NEW TESTAMENT, 

English, while a dead silence and astonishment reigned 
among the forces so lately enterprising and irresistible. Joan 
now called on the garrison no longer to stand upon the de- 
fensive, but boldly to attack the army of the besiegers. She 
took one redoubt, and then another. The English, over- 
whelmed with amazement, scarcely dared to lift a hand 
against her. Their veteran Generals became spell-bound 
and powerless, and their soldiers were driven before the 
prophetess like a flock of sheep. The siege was raised. 
Joan followed the English to a fortified town which they 
fixed on as the place of their retreat, and all the English 
were made prisoners. The late victorious force now con- 
centrated themselves at Patay, in Orleanois. Joan advanced 
to meet them. The battle lasted not a moment; it was 
rather a flight than a combat. Fastolfe, one of the bravest 
of the English Generals, threw down his arms, and ran for 
his life. Talbot and Scales, the other Generals, were made 
prisoners. 

The siege of Orleans was raised on the eighth of May, 
1429 ; the battle of Patay was fought on the tenth of the fol- 
lowing month. Joan was, at that time, twenty-two years 
of age. This extraordinary turn having been given to the 
affairs of the kingdom, Joan next insisted that the King 
should march to Rheims, in order to be crowned. Rheims 
lay in a direction expressly through the enemy's garrisons. 
But every thing yielded to the marvellous fortune that at- 
tended upon the heroine. Troyes opened its gates. Chalons 
followed the example. Rheims sent a deputation, with the 
keys of the city, which met Charles on his inarch. The 
proposed solemnity took place amid the ecstasies and enthu- 
siastic shouts of his people. It was no sooner over, than 
Joan stepped forward. She said, she had now performed 
the whole of what God had commissioned her to do. She 
was satisfied. She entreated the King to dismiss her to the 
obscurity from which she had sprung. 

" The Ministers and Generals of France, however, found 
Joan too useful an instrument to be willing to part with her 
thus early, and she yielded to their earnest expostulations. 



FACTS AND PERSONAGES OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. J§5 

Under her guidance, they assailed Laon, Soissons, Chauteau, 
Thirry, Provins, and many other places, and took them one 
after another. She threw herself into Compiegne, which 
was besieged by the Duke of Burgundy in conjunction with 
certain English commanders. The day after her arrival, 
she headed a sally against the enemy ; twice she repelled 
them, but rinding their numbers increase every moment with 
fresh reinforcements, she directed a retreat. Twice she re- 
turned to her pursuers, and made them recoil; the third time 
she was less fortunate. She found herself alone, surrounded 
by the enemy, and having performed prodigies of valor, she 
was compelled to surrender herself a prisoner. This hap- 
pened on the twenty-fifth of May, 1430. It remained to be 
determined what should be the fate of this admirable woman. 
Both friends and enemies agreed that her career had been 
attended with a supernatural power. The French, who 
were so infinitely indebted to her achievements, and who 
owed the sudden and glorious reverse of their affairs to her 
alone, were convinced that she was immediately commis- 
sioned by God, and vied with each other in reciting the mi- 
raculous phenomena which marked every step in her pro- 
gress. The English, who saw all the victorious acquisitions 
of Henry the Fifth crumbling from their grasp, were equally 
impressed with the manifest miracle, but imputed all her 
good fortune to a league with the Prince of Darkness. They 
said, that her boasted visions were so many delusions of the 
Devil. They determined to bring her to trial for the tre- 
mendous crimes of sorcery and witchcraft. 

" They believed that if she were once convicted and led 
out to execution, the prowess and valor which had hitherto 
marked their progress, would return to them, and that they 
should obtain the same superiority over their disheartened 
foes. The Devil, who had hitherto been her constant ally, 
terrified at the spectacle of the flames that consumed her, 
would instantly return to the infernal regions, and leave the 
field open to English enterprise and energy, and to the inter- 
position of God and his saints. An accusation was prepared 
against her, and all the solemnities of a public trial were ob- 



lfi§ FACTS AND PERSONAGES OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. 

served. But the proofs were so weak and unsatisfactory, 
and Joan, though oppressed and treated with the utmost 
severity, displayed so much acuteness and presence of mind, 
that the court, not venturing to proceed to the last extremity, 
contented themselves with sentencing her to perpetual im- 
prisonment, and to be allowed no other nourishment than 
bread and water for life. Before they yielded to this mitiga- 
tion of punishment, they caused her to sign with her mark 
a recantation of her offences. She acknowledged that the 
enthusiasm which had guided her was an illusion, and 
promised never more to listen to its suggestions. 

'•The hatred of her enemies, however, was not yet appeas- 
ed. They determined in some way to entrap her. They 
had clothed her in a female garb ; they insidiously laid in her 
way the habiliments of a man. The fire, smothered in the 
bosom of the maid, revived at the sight ; she was alone, she 
caught up the garments, and one by one adjusted them to 
her person. Spies were set to watch for this event ; they 
burst into her apartment. What she had done was construed 
into no less offence than that of a relapsed heretic. There 
was no more pardon for such confirmed delinquency. She 
was brought out to be burned alive in the market place of 
Rouen, and she died embracing a crucifix, and in her last 
moments calling upon the name of Jesus. A few days more 
than twelve months had elapsed between the period of her 
first captivity and her execution." 

The preceding history of Joan of Arc, is taken from "God- 
win's Lives of the Necromancers." Reader ! we see in this 
tragical account, the dreadful effects of human credulity. 
The unfortunate Maid of Orleans, who so well deserved a 
monument for her patriotism, was thus cruelly put to death. 
Her hard fate fully shows how superstition fortifies the mind 
against compassion and the dictates of common sense. In 
that age of religious intolerance, whole nations had caught 
this theological fever. Kings and Parliaments, Judges and 
Generals, from the highest to the lowest, were alike the sub- 
jects of that awful contagion. Justice was banished from 
the earth, and humanity had no existence. From whence 



FACTS AND PERSONAGES OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. IQJ 

proceeded this state of savage barbarism ? The answer is 
presented to us in bold relief. It was the effects of human 
credulity. It was brought on by believing without exami- 
nation ; and, in the New Testament, faith is urged as the 
thing most pleasing to God, and unbelief as the greatest sin. 
The existence of the Devil, and his enmity to God and man, 
being supported by the New Testament, to be guilty of form- 
ing a contract with the Prince of Darkness was considered a 
horrid crime. The origin of sorcery, (which consisted in 
holding a communion with beings from the fabulous world 
of spirits,) is lost in the night and darkness of antiquity, but 
all ancient nations and people were believers in its reality. 
It was of heathen origin, yet the Jews practised it, and in- 
dividuals followed it for a livelihood, as, for instance, the 
witch of Endor. Christians have also been believers in it 
in connection with all the different branches of magic. 

But that which has established its truth among Christians, 
is the part performed by Jesus during his ministry. By his 
own temptation by the Devil, the existence of the Devil is 
put beyond all doubt. And when Jesus was about to cast 
out a devil, the devil is reported to have cried out to the 
Saviour, "We know who thou art, and art thou come to tor- 
ment us before the time?" This mode of expression to 
Jesus by the Devil who was about to be cast out, implies 
that when the Devil was ejected, he had to return to hell, 
his native place of torment. It would lead us to infer that 
devils were permitted to leave their dread abodes, and take 
possession of men or animals, as a cessation of torture ; but 
when cast out, they had to return home, their vacation being 
run out. Admitting this to be warranted by the New Tes- 
tament, we can account for those devils whose names were 
a Legion," petitioning to be permitted to enter the herd of 
swine. So, then, it appears that the devils had other mo- 
tives in taking possession of human beings than to rebel 
against God, or to torment men. It was a fine holiday to 
blow off the soot and ashes, and to get fresh air. At any 
rate, Jesus, by pretending to cast out devils, fully admitted 



IQQ FACTS AND PERSONAGES OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. 

their existence. And by the temptation of Christ, is proved 
a desire on the part of the Devil to enlist persons into his 
service. 



CHAPTER VII 



ON THE FACTS AND PERSONAGES OF THE 
NEW TESTAMENT. 

The reader will not fail to notice, that the personage 
known by the name of the Devil, Satan, &c., is treated of 
more fully than any other recorded in the Old or New Tes- 
tament. The reason is, because his influence exceeds that 
of all the prophets, and even of the Saviour himself. So 
destructive has been his supposed reign, throughout the 
earth, that hundreds of volumes could be written, and still 
the half would remain untold. In the conclusion of this chap- 
ter, an account will be given of witchcraft in Sweden, which 
far exceeds any thing on .record. The bare recital fills the 
mind with horror, pity, and indignation. 

Before giving the dreadful tale, it will not be amiss to in- 
dulge in a few thoughts on the probable origin of the exist- 
ence of a Being who has been a terror to all nations, both 
learned and ignorant. As the writer is convinced that 
every thing pertaining to theology is of man's creation, it 
may be useful to express his opinions how it has happened 
that all religions have been based on two beings who have 
ever been opposed to each other, namely, a God and a 
Devil. Their opposition to each other is the ground- work 
of every system, whether it be of saint or savage. 

To attempt to go back to the origin of theology, as to 
when or where it first assumed the form of religious wor- 
ship, is to begin at the beginning of the human race. Re- 



FACTS AND PERSONAGES OP THE NEW TESTAMENT. \ 59 

ligion may be compared to a chain, the first link of which 
is hidden in the darkness of past ages. The curtain is con- 
tinually dropping ; and the most that we can do is. to peep 
behind one of its corners. We find ourselves connected with 
that link which we call Christianity. How many preceding 
links there may have been, we know not, nor have we any 
means of knowing. All, therefore, is but conjecture. But 
carrying our ideas back to a time we know not when, to the 
beginning of that theology, the basis of which is a God and 
Devil opposing each other, the following remarks are pre- 
sented: — Before human beings were acquainted with the 
laws of nature, the universe must have presented to them 
appearances which surprised and alarmed them. Receiving 
no ideas but through the medium of the senses, the first idea 
which must strike them would be, the great contrast between 
a mighty power and their own weakness. They would dis- 
cover from what they saw around them, a mighty power 
which no prudence could guard against, and which no 
strength, which they had, could oppose. They would see, 
that, if by accident, they fell into water, it would destroy 
life; if, by any means, their dwellings took fire, it would 
consume them ; that thunder was calculated to alarm them, 
and that death often followed the storm ; and also, that the 
slightest accident often caused severe pain, and sickness fol- 
lowed, without their being acquainted with the original cause 
of all these evils. The first men, then, must have been as- 
tonished with the mighty power which every where sur- 
rounded them, when compared with their own weakness. 
Sometimes tasting the sweets of life, and at others, its evils, 
the first gave them pleasing sensations, the last, pain and 
distress. Having, then, nothing to guide them in drawing 
conclusions but the objects by which they were surrounded,, 
they inferred that the mighty power which was every raor- 
ment visible to their senses, and from which they received 
every thing that contributed to their happiness, resided in a, 
being like themselves, but possessing wisdom and goodness. 

To these children of nature, who saw "God in the clouds^ 
and heard him in the wind," by a simple process of the mind, 
15 



UQ FACTS AND " PERSONAGES OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. 

such conclusions were very natural. The first theologians^ 
then, who, by way of reasoning, we place at the fountain 
head of all religious systems which have come down to us, 
were convinced of the existence of a Supreme Power who 
governed the destinies of the human race. Power, then, 
was the first idea which man had, in the infancy of his rea- 
son, as to the existence of a God; and it is all that the great- 
est and wisest of the human race have ever discovered of the 
Being called by that name. And in this view of the subject, 
there is no man living who is an Atheist. The power that 
presented itself to untaught man, required no laborious in- 
vestigation to discover. It struck his senses with as equal a 
force as it does the profoundest philosopher. On the con- 
trary, the wisdom and goodness ascribed to God, resulted 
from a knowledge of the order and wonderful adaptation 
which pervades the universe, the investigation of which has 
employed master minds in all subsequent ages. 

But untutored man must be overwhelmed with thinking 
of that power to whose bounds he could set no limits. The 
wisdom and munificence that run through all nature, were 
to him unknown. To those, therefore, from whom the- 
ology took its rise, it was a world of confusion. Ignorant 
of cause and effect in the order of nature, and their imagi- 
nations being active, while their reasoning powers were 
undeveloped, every thing they saw or felt was to them a 
mixture of pleasurable or painful sensations. The pleasure, 
ease, or comfort which they enjoyed, would be considered 
as the gift of a good power which conferred such blessings. 
On the other hand, it would appear inconsistent to them to 
ascribe the evils attending them to the author of good, they 
being incapable of judging that good (pleasure) and evil 
(pain) could proceed from the same power. 

In reasoning from what they saw, they concluded that 
power was connected with, and resided in, living beings, 
who had life and motion like themselves. Hence they in- 
ferred, that the power from whom they received good, existed 
somewhere to them unknown. Proceeding in the same track 
in which they, in imagination, first set out, they conceived 



FACTS AND PERSONAGES OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. J7| 

this power to be a Being whose residence was in the starry 
heavens. Untaught man, having imagined a Being from 
whom he received all the good, in following on in the same 
course soon came to the certain conclusion that the God who 
was the author of all his happiness, must have a location, a 
dwelling above, in some of the stars — at any rate, beyond 
the ken of mortals. As men's thinking powers became more 
expanded, but still under the influence of imagination, they 
would conclude that this Being who dwelt in the skies, 
would, of course, have his attendants who fulfilled his or- 
ders, and added splendor to his habitation. 

It appears, that by such a train of thinking, under the in- 
fluence of the imagination, that the religious system which 
has come down to us, and which, from time to time, has had 
additions and modifications, namely, the existence of a God 
and of a place called Heaven, inhabited by angels, had its 
origin. Ignorant of the laws of nature, the power of imagi- 
•nation has produced, owing to the organization of the human 
mind, a world of fiction, consisting of a God, angels, and a 
habitation in the skies. By the same process of reasoning, 
(though feeble.) yet propelled by an active imagination, 
which had fixed the habitation of a good Being in the skies, 
in a splendid city, with attendants singing his praises, and 
eager to execute his orders, untaught man now turned his 
attention to the author of his misfortunes and misery. Be- 
ing totally ignorant that a portion of pain was indispensable 
to the full enjoyment of happiness in his precarious life, he 
could not think that pleasure and pain proceeded from the 
same being ; which must have induced him to conclude that 
an evil and malignant being existed, nearly equal in power 
to the one that was good ; and to such an one, he ascribed 
all pain and misfortune. 

Here, then, are all the materials for a system of theology 
which has been propagated and believed in by every nation 
under heaven, in which have been included "saint, savage, 
and sage." In all the hundreds of systems of religious wor- 
ship, the before-mentioned materials have been the ground- 
work, with the exception of the Jewish: for, during their 



^72 FACTS AND PERSONAGES OF THE NEW TESTAMENT, 

dispensation, the Devil made no part of it. But when Jesus 
came to gather up " the lost sheep of the house of Israel" 
along came Mr. Devil to oppose him. As the imagination 
had created a Devil, the Father of all evil, something was 
still wanting to complete the whole; and that was, an abode 
-of darkness and horror. Hell, then, is his dread mansion, 
*over which he reigns triumphant. 

It has been reserved for the Christian Religion to depict 
hell in all its awful terrors. The New Testament represents 
hell as a place of torment by fire never-ending, where the un- 
fortunate occupants are forever burning, but kept alive, and 
never consumed. The hell of the Greeks and other nations 
is less horrible, being represented as the abode of darkness, 
humiliation, and sorrow. But Christianity has a God in 
heaven, and a Devil in hell, forever contending with each 
other, like gladiators of old for the prize; and that prize is 
the human race. But the same New Testament represents 
that the Devil will have by far the greatest number of pris- 
« oners, so that, in the final winding up of this holy war, Old 
Nick will win the field. 

The same process of reasoning, which led man, in the 
infancy of his reason, to personify the power who presided 
over the human race, induced him to infer that his pain and 
misfortune emanated from a malignant being, who delighted 
to do him harm. He then, by the simple process of his 
imagination, concluded that there must be two opposing 
powers which governed the affairs of mortals. The good, 
proceeded from a being who showered down blessings on 
mortals; and all evil and pain, from a being who took 
pleasure in the unhappiness of the human race ; and his res- 
idence, to correspond with his evil disposition, was by them 
fixed in the gloomy regions of darkness and horror. This, 
then, Christians, appears to have been the origin of your God 
and Heaven; and also your Devil and Hell. That both 
heaven and hell are of heathen origin, there can be no doubt ; 
and it is also equally clear, that the Jews, when they returned 
from captivity, brought these doctrines back with them into 
Judea. They then made part of the Jewish faith, and Jesus 



FACTS AND PERSONAGES OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. Jfg 

embraced them ; for he pretended to cast out devils, and the 
Devil enticed him in the wilderness to rebel against God and 
enlist into the service of his Satanic Majesty. And this 
heaven, which originated in heathenism, Jesus promised as 
the reward of his faithful followers ; and with this very hell 
he threatened the disobedient. 

What can Christians say (after this) of the divinity or the 
antiquity of the New Testament? Its doctrines originated 
in an age unknown, among a people more ancient than Moses, 
or than Adam, who is said to have been the first man. Yes ! 
ye ministers of grace, your heaven and hell, by the proclaim- 
ing of which you alarm the good man r but make the wicked 
man worse, have no more existence in reality than the heaven 
and hell of Mahomet. But if there be a heaven, such as you 
preach up, and the road to it be as difficult as Jesus declared 
it to be, many of you will have to put up at the half-way 
house ; you will never reach the end of your journey. 

The following account of witchcraft in Sweden, is extract- 
ed from " Godwin's Lives of the Necromancers:" — "The 
story of witchcraft, as it is reported to have passed in Swe- 
den, in the year 1670, and has many times been reprinted in 
this country, (England,) is, on several accounts, one of the 
most interesting and deplorable that has ever been recorded. 
The scene lies in Dalecarlia, a country forever memorable as 
having witnessed some of the earliest adventures of Gustavus 
Vasa, his deepest humiliation, and the first commencement 
of his prosperous fortune. The Dalecarlians are represented 
to us as the simplest, the most faithful, and the bravest of the 
sons of men ; — men, undebauched and unsuspicious, but who 
devoted themselves in the most disinterested manner for a 
cause that appeared to them worthy of support, the cause of 
liberty and independence against the cruellest of tyrants. At 
least, such they were in 1520, one hundred and fifty years 
before the date of the story we are going to recount. The 
site of these events was at Mohra and Elfdale, in the prov- 
ince that has just been mentioned. The Dalecarlians, simple 
and ignorant, but of exemplary integrity and honesty, who 
dwelt amid impracticable mountains and spacious mines of 
15* 



]7*4 PACTS AND PERSONAGES OE THE NEW TESTAMENT. 

copper and iron, were distinguished for superstition among 
the countries of the north, where all were superstitious. 
They were probably subject, at intervals, to the periodical 
visitation of alarms of witches, when whole races of men 
became wild with the infection, without any one's being able 
to account, for it. 

"In the year 1670, and one or two preceding years, there 
was a great alarm of witches in the town of Mohra. There 
were always two or three witches existing in some of the 
obscure quarters of this place ; but now they increased in 
number, and showed their faces with the utmost audacity. 
Their mode, on the present occasion, was, to make a jour- 
ney through the air to Blockula, an imaginary scene of re- 
tirement, which none but the witches and their dupes had 
ever seen. Here they met with feasts and various entertain- 
ments, which it seems had particular charms for the persons 
who partook of them. The witches used to go into a field, 
in the environs of Mohra, and cry aloud to the Devil in a 
peculiar sort of recitation, " Antecessor ! come and carry us 
to Blockula." Then appeared a multitude of strange beasts : 
men, spits, posts, and goats with spits run through their en- 
trails, and projecting behind, that all might have room. The 
witches mounted these beasts of burden, as vehicles, and 
were conveyed through the air over high walls and moun- 
tains, and through churches and chimneys, without percep- 
tible impediment, till they arrived at the place of their desti- 
nation. 

" Here the Devil feasted them with various compounds and 
confections; and, having feasted to their heart's content, they 
danced and then fought. The Devil made them ride on 
spits, from which they were thrown ; and the Devil beat 
them with the spits and laughed at them. He then caused 
them to build a house to protect them against the day of 
judgment, and presently overturned the walls of the house, 
and derided them again. All sorts of obscenities. were report- 
ed to follow upon these scenes. The Devil begot on the 
witches sons and daughters ; this new generation intermar- 
ried again, and the issue of this further conjunction appears 



FACTS AND PERSONAGES OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. j^g 

to have been toads and serpents. How all this pedigree pro- 
ceeded, in the two or three years in which Blockula had 
never been heard of, I know not that the witches were ever 
called on to explain. But what was most of all to be de- 
plored, the Devil was not content with seducing the witches 
to go and celebrate this infernal Sabbath ; he further insisted 
that they should bring the children of Mohra along with 
them. 

" At first, he was satisfied, if each witch brought one : but 
now, he demanded that each witch should bring six or seven 
for her quota. How the witches managed with the minds 
of the children, we are at a loss to guess. These poor, 
harmless innocents, steeped to the very lips in ignorance and 
superstition, were, by some means, kept in continual alarm 
by the wicked, or, to speak more truly, the insane old 
women, and said as their prompters said. It does not ap- 
pear that the children ever left their beds, at the time they 
reported they had been to Blockula. Their parents watched 
them with fearful anxiety. At a certain time of the night, 
the children were seized with a strange shuddering; their 
limbs were agitated, and their skins covered with a profuse 
perspiration. When they came to themselves, they related 
that they had been to Blockula, and the strange things they 
had seen, similar to what had already been described by the 
women. Three hundred children, of various ages, are said 
to have been seized with this epidemic. 

u The whole town of Mohra became subject to the infec^ 
tion, and were overcome with the deepest aflliction. They 
consulted together, and drew up a petition to the royal coun- 
sel at Stockholm, entreating that they would discover some 
remedy, and that the government would interpose its author- 
ity to put an end to a calamity to which otherwise they 
could find no limit. The King of Sweden, at that time, was 
Charles the Eleventh, father of Charles the Twelfth, and 
was only fourteen years of age. His council, in their wis- 
dom, deputed two commissioners to Morah, and furnished 
them with powers to examine witnesses, and take whatever 
proceedings they might judge necessary to put an end to so 



l^ft FACTS AND PERSONAGES OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. 

unspeakable a calamity. They entered on the business of 
their commission, on the thirteenth of August, the ceremony 
having been begun with two sermons in the great church of 
Mohra, in which We may be sure the damnable sin of witch- 
craft was fully dilated on. and concluded with prayers to Al- 
mighty God, that, in his mercy, he would speedily bring to 
an end the tremendous misfortune with which, for their sins, 
he had seen fit to afflict the poor people of Mohra. The 
next day they opened their commission. Seventy witches 
were brought before them. They were all, at first, steadfast 
in their denial, alleging that the charges were wantonly 
brought against them, solely from malice and ill-will. But 
the judges were earnest in pressing them, till, at length, first 
one, and then another, burst into tears, and confessed all. 
Twenty-three were prevailed on thus to disburden their con- 
sciences ; but nearly the whole, those who owned the justice 
of their sentence, as well as those who protested their inno- 
cence to the last, were executed. Fifteen children confessed 
their guilt, and were also executed. Thirty-six other chil- 
dren, (who, we may infer, did confess.) between the ages 
of nine and sixteen, were condemned to run the gauntlet, 
and to be whipped on their hands at the church door every 
Sunday for a year together. Twenty others were whipped 
on their hands for three Sundays." 

This is certainly a very deplorable scene ; and is made the 
more so, by the previous character which history has im- 
posed on us, of the simplicity, integrity, and generous love 
of liberty of the Dalecarlians. For the children and their 
parents, we can feel nothing but unmingled pity. The case 
of the witches is different. That three hundred children 
should have been made the victims of this imaginary witch- 
craft, is doubtless a grievous calamity. And that a number 
of women should be found, so depraved and so barbarous, as 
by their incessant suggestions to have practised on the minds 
of these children, so as to have robbed them of their sober 
sense, to have frightened them into fits and disease, and 
made them believe the most odious impossibilities, argued a 
most degenerate character, and well merited severe reproba- 



FACTS AND PERSONAGES OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. ^77 

tion, but not death. Add to which, many of those women 
may be believed innocent ; otherwise, a great majority of 
those who were executed would not have died protesting 
their entire freedom from what was imputed to them. Some 
of the parents, no doubt from folly and ill-judgment, aided 
the alienation of mind in their children, which they after- 
ward so deeply deplored, and gratified their senseless aver- 
sion to the old women, when they were themselves in many 
cases more the real authors of the evil than those who suf- 
fered. 

The honest and serious reader is now recommended to 
pause, and, for a moment, reflect on the foregoing recital ; for 
if ten thousand real devils had been let loose and turned 
out on the earth in a visible and bodily form, and had been 
permitted to do their worst against the human race, if such 
a thing had actually taken place, the eviis inflicted by them 
would have been little compared to what has really taken 
place by men's believing in the existence of an invisible Devil, 
who never had a being but in the imagination of mortals. 
The destructive influence which has spread over the whole 
earth has brought to a premature grave thousands and tens 
of thousands of harmless beings, who have been charged with 
holding converse with this supposed enemy of God and man. 
Of all the crimes which have been committed on earth, to 
sin against Orthodox faith has been considered the worst; 
when, in fact, it is no sin at all. There is nothing immoral 
in it. To differ from any man, or from all men, about re- 
ligion, cannot be a crime. It is the inherent right of every 
human being; and to rob him of that right is the worst of 
felony. But to punish a man with death in addition, is to 
unite robbery and murder. And what makes it worse is, 
that religious offenders are put to death without pity or mer- 
cy. Few, very few tears of compassion ever have fallen for 
them, where Christianity has been the prosecutor. 

The baneful influence which has spread over the world, 
by believing in the existence of the Devil, is shocking to hu- 
manity. It has been computed that as many as one million 
persons have suffered, in various ways, since the commence- 



178 FACTS AND PERSONAGES OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. 

men t of the Christian era. Some have been banished ; some 
have been branded and imprisoned; others put to death, after 
having been tortured in the most cruel manner ; and thou- 
sands have been out-la wed and driven from their peaceful 
homes without pity. All this has taken place because the 
Scriptures teach and support the existence of a Devil, the 
inveterate enemy of God and men. There is no doctrine 
more fully carried out in the New Testament than the 
existence and hostile activity of the Devil. Jesus, it is said, 
u jcast them out. 11 He also was tempted to rebel against God, 
and to worship the Devil. Jn the Book of Job, the Devil is 
represented as being permitted to afflict Job. And Jesus 
threatens the ungodly with a punishment in connection with 
the Devil and his angels. If a devil has no being whatever, 
why should Jesus pretend to cast out devils ? And if there 
be, in truth, such a personage as the Devil, possessing such 
power, and, also, forever opposing Almighty power, can it 
be possible that a God of goodness would permit him to live 
and annoy God and men ? 

We see that it is the height of folly to suppose that such 
a personage ever did live, or does now ; but the belief of it 
has been one of the greatest curses which ever befel man- 
kind. Here, then, let us bring up the idea, and reflect upon 
it, that all the evil which has taken place, and all the suffer- 
ings endured by the unfortunate beings in the dark ages, 
may possibly again occur. The Bible is the same, and man 
is the same. The difference is in the actions of men in dif- 
ferent ages. When reason and the morality of things are 
man's guide, then he is peaceable and humane; but when 
acting under the imagination, he is capable of becoming as 
bad as is the Devil. 

In concluding this chapter, let us look back to those times 
of ignorance and superstition. Let us place ourselves by 
the unfortunate victims who were put to torture and death 
for a crime they could not commit. Could they, in their ex- 
treme pain, but have had a hope that a day would arrive 
when a band of master spirits would arise on the shores of 
the Atlantic, who, by reason and the moral fitness of things, 



FACTS AND PERSONAGES OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. f^Q 

would upset and prostrate the systems under which they so 
severely suffered — could the poor, suffering victim, with his 
broken heart and fractured limbs, have had assurance, when 
his tortured mind was about to quit its lacerated boundary, 
that a time would soon surely come when the truth of the 
Bible and the existence of a Devil would cease to be made 
the instruments of unspeakable misery and torment, it would 
have been a cheerful ray of comfort amid the devouring 
flame. The time has at length arrived, and we ought to 
improve it. Let us, then, with untiring perseverance and 
moral courage, give the death-blow to the Divinity of the 
Old and New Testaments, and thereby forever obliterate, 
not only the incentives to, but also the remembrance of, al 
religious persecutions. 



CHAPTER VIII. 

ON THE FACTS AND PERSONAGES IN THE NEW 
TESTAMENT. 

As this work is about to be concluded, it will be of im- 
portance to the reader that a comprehensive view be taken 
of the mission of Christ to the Jewish nation. In doing 
which, an opportunity will be given to such of my readers 
as may hitherto have been afraid to doubt the truth of the 
Divine authority of the Bible, to see, at one glance, its 
absurdity. 

In the four Gospels, which contain the sayings and doings 
of Jesus during his ministry among the Jews, and also in 
the Epistles of the Apostles, it is uniformly declared and en- 
forced, that the main purpose of Christ's (the anointed of 
God) coming into the world was, to die. And this death 
was required by the Father as an atonement for the sins of 



180 



FACTS AND PERSONAGES OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. 



mankind, that whosoever believed in and obeyed him, their 
pardon should be sure, not for any thing which they had 
done as it related to justice, chastity, or humanity, but for 
the ransom paid for their sins by the sacrifice of Christ on 
the cross. An apostle, in speaking on this subject, says — 
" He (Christ) being delivered by the determined counsel and 
foreknowledge of God, ye have, by wicked hands, crucified 
and slain." This decree, then, was absolute, and every 
movement then made by Jesus, and also his preaching and 
conversation with the Jews, was so arranged, that die he 
must, to save a lost and ruined world. 

This, according to the Scriptures, was the divine arrange- 
ment between the Father and the Son. This doctrine is 
taught in the New Testament. And in such a lost condition 
were the human race, that Jesus freely gave himself as a 
ransom to be completed in due time. If the New Testament 
does not teach this, it is not possible to know what it does 
teach. To die, then, as a sacrifice for sin, included the sum 
and substance of the Gospel, or good news. 

Having laid down the ground- work of human redemption, 
we proceed to carry through the plan said to be the work of 
mercy and goodness flowing from the mighty God, the au- 
thor of all things. In the examination of such an arrange- 
ment, it appears impossible to conclude that the Author of 
the Universe can be considered as the God of the Jews and 
Christians. The Jews had always been taught to believe 
that they were God's favorite people, and they retain the 
same faith to the present day. For ages before the Christian 
era, they not only expected the coming of the Messiah, but 
also, that no nation but their own would be interested in that 
glorious event. It never entered their minds that he would 
come in any disguise, for many impostors had appeared, who, 
being discovered, their Messiahship procured them certain 
destruction. The Jews, therefore, inferred, that when the 
proper time should arrive for the long-expected and ardently- 
looked for Messiah to appear among them, their nation would 
be raised to more than its former greatness, and God's chosen 
people would be held up to the nations of the earth as con- 



FACTS AND PERSONAGES OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. Jg| 

firming the truth of what their ancient prophets had foretold 
of their future prosperity. 

It could never, therefore, have entered the minds of the 
Jews, as a nation, that the Messiah would come in any dis- 
guise. And it must have been far from their thoughts to 
expect that he, when he should arrive, would load them with 
violent abuse, and reproach them as being too low to be con- 
sidered as any thing else than a nation of hypocrites. If 
Jesus came into this world to die, then every thing which he 
taught, and also all the intercourse which he had with his 
own people, was preparatory to that event. That the Mes- 
siah would come to the Jewish nation to dwell among them, 
to be their leader, to exalt them above all other nations, was 
what they had been taught to expect. Instead of which, he 
calls them " a generation of vipers ! " and pronounces terrible 
things against the heads of the nation, commencing his de- 
nunciations with " Woe unto you, scribes and pharisees, hypo- 
crites!" Such violence and abuse surprised them, coming 
from one who said u he came to seek and to save that which 
tvas lost" 

Again, Jesus said that " he came not to call the righteous, 
but sinners to repentance." But Jesus gave them no quarter, 
but sent them head and heels to the Devil. The Jewish 
rulers must have been more than human to have quietly 
taken such vulgar abuse. Sometimes, Jesus seemed to soften 
down in his conduct, as when he says, " O Jerusalem ! Jeru^- 
salem ! how often woidd I have gathered thy children together, 
as a hen gather eth her chickens under her wings, but ye would 
not" So erratic is Jesus depicted, in the account we have 
transmitted down to us, that we are at a loss as to forming 
an opinion concerning his manner of treating his own people. 
But as it was i: by the determined counsel and foreknowledge 
of God" that he was to be a " sacrifice for the sins of man- 
kind," his mode of addressing the rulers of Israel was calcu- 
lated to bring about the "wiU of his Father" 

Admitting, for the sake of argument, that Jesus was the 
true Messiah, the Jews were in a worse state than if he had 
not appeared among them. The statement made by Jesus 
16 



Igg FACTS AND PERSONAGES OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. 

of the destruction of Jerusalem, and of his second coming, 
confounded all their ideas of the Messiah's kingdom. In the 
twenty-third and twenty-fourth chapters of Matthew, after 
having pronounced a number of dreadful predictions against 
them, he winds up in chapter twenty- third as follows, " Ye 

SERPENTS ! YE GENERATION OF VIPERS ! HOW CAN YE ESCAPE THE 

damnation of hell?" In the twenty-fourth chapter of 
Matthew, Jesus gives a long account of his second coming. 
How was it possible for the Jews to understand what he 
there describes 1 Their desire was, to know if he was the 
Messiah promised by the prophets ; and, if so, what steps he 
would take for the exaltation of their nation, so that they 
might enjoy all they had been induced to expect when the 
u sun of righteousness should arise with healing in his 
wings." 

For Jesus to tell his disciples and the Jewish nation what 
would be the signs of his second coming, before they under- 
stood what his object was in coming the first time, must ap- 
pear very strange. From the particular account which Jesus 
gave of his second coming, the Jews must have understood 
him to mean, that although he professed to be the true Mes- 
siah, yet his stay was but short with them. As yet, his time 
for operation was not come. The discourses of Jesus to his 
countrymen, were all calculated to mislead and confound 
them. In his sermon on the Mount, he claims an authority 
of his own superior to the law of Moses. Matthew, chapter 
v., verse 33 — " Again, ye have heard that it hath been said 
by them of old time, thou shalt not forswear thyself, but shalt 
perform unto the Lord thine oaths. But I say unto you, 
swear not at all." Verse 38 — u Ye have heard that it hath 
been said, an eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth. But I 
say unto you, that ye resist not evil; but whosoever shall smite 
thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also." What 
could the Jewish rulers think of a man, who, without any 
ceremony, set up laws in direct opposition to the laws of 
Moses, when, at other times, he declared himself a follower 
of Moses, and that he came not to destroy the law, but to 



FACTS AND PERSONAGES OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. £§3 

fulfil iU Such inconsistent teaching as this, will not admit 
of Infinite Wisdom's being the author. 

In Matthew, chapter xiii., 10, it reads — u And the disci- 
ples came and said unto him, Why speaketh. thou unto them 
in parables 7 He answered and said unto them, Because it 
is given unto you to knoxo the mysteries of the kingdom of 
heaven, but to them it is not given." Verse 13 — u Therefore 
speak I to them in parables, because they seeing, see not ; and 
hearing, they hear not, neither do they understand" Verse 
14 — " And in them is fidfilled the prophecy of Esaias, lohich 
saith, By hearing ye shall hear and shall not understand, and 
seeing ye shall see and shall not perceive. Verse 15 — " For 
this people's heart is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of 
hearing, and their eyes they have closed, lest at any time they 
should see with their eyes and hear with their ears, and 
should understand with their heart, and should be converted, 
and I should heal them." 

Now this mode of treating the Jewish nation is perfectly 
in character with the plan, in accordance with which, Jesus 
came to lay down his life for sinners ; for had he convinced 
the Jews that he was the expected restorer of Israel, no Jew- 
ish arm would have been raised against him ; nor would it 
have been possible to have prevailed on the national rulers 
to have attempted his life ; since although the priests and 
Pharisees might, in a moral point of view, have been wicked 
in the extreme, still their veneration for, and their earnest 
expectation of the coming of, the Messiah, would have pre- 
vented any hostile feelings against ll the anointed of the Lord, 
the Holy one of Israel" 

But if the preaching of Christ, and his arrangements, were 
of such a nature that the Jews supposed the whole to be an 
imposture, then the case took a different turn altogether. 
Instead of the Jews refusing to receive Jesus as the sent of 
God, they put him to death from the hatred which they had 
towards any one who they supposed had fabricated his au- 
thority and office. If the main object of Christ's coming to 
the Jews was to die for the sins of mankind, both Jew and 
Gentile, and thus become a willing sacrifice for sin, — if this 



Ig4 FACTS AND PERSONAGES OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. 

was the plan of human redemption, it then follows that the 
Jews did that part which, in the divine arrangement, was 
allotted for them to do. Then the conduct of Jesus was con- 
sistent in keeping them ignorant, so that their part might by 
them be carried out. If he had convinced them, that he 
was, in truth, the sent of God, but that they must hang him 
on a tree, the plan of human redemption would have failed, 
for they, immoral as they might be, never would have put 
him to death. 

There could be no other way of bringing about the death 
of Christ, but by keeping the Jewish nation ignorant that he 
was the Messiah. The course that was pursued by Jesus, 
would imply that his orders were to so act among them, that 
their condemnation would be just for rejecting him ; but on 
no account to perform miracles sufficient to convince them, 
for in that case the Jews would not have condemned and 
put him to death as a blasphemer and an impostor. Again, 
if Jesus came on earth to die, and without shedding his blood 
there could be u no remission of sin" what mockery for him 
to exclaim " O Jerusalem! Jerusalem! how oft would I 
have gathered thy children together, as a hen gathereth her 
chickens under her wings, and ye would not" ! For if the 
Jews had sheltered themselves under the wings of Jesus, 
how was he to die as a sacrifice for sin? But he was not 
put to death, they knowing him to be the Christ, but on the 
contrary, they condemned him for pretending to be the very 
anointed of the Lord. And although the story was propa- 
gated that Jesus arose, after his descent from the cross, the 
Jews as a nation did not give credit to it, nor have they till 
this day. If, therefore, " there is no other name under hea- 
ven whereby men can be saved" but by believing in Christ 
and in his dying for the sins of mankind, then the Jews, 
ever since the death of Christ, and also the present race, are 
lost and forever shut out from that pardon which was pro- 
cured by the death of Jesus, which was brought about by 
the instrumentality of the Jews by the condemnation of the 
Messiah. 

The account of Judas, in what is called betraying his 



FACTS AND PERSONAGES OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. ]Q£ 

Master, is strange indeed. In speaking of that circumstance, 
Jesus says, " It would have been better for that man if he 
had never been born" Now if Jesus came to die, Judas, by- 
informing the authorities where he was to be found, did no 
more than bring to pass what was before ordained should 
take place. Judas, then, was but the instrument to accom- 
plish the plan of human redemption, by informing the Jew- 
ish authorities when and where they could secure the object 
which they sought after. The very idea of betraying Jesus, 
proves two things: — first, that Jesus was but little known 
to the Jews, except from report ; and, secondly, that although 
he had often said he came to lay down his life for sinful man, 
yet he intended to evade death as long as possible. It was 
owing to this obscure method of teaching, that his disciples, 
although always with him, could not understand fully what 
his objects were ; and though he had so often told them of 
"the kingdom of heaven being at hand" they understood 
him not. 

To bring the position of the Jews nearer, at the time of 
Christ's appearance in Judea, let us suppose ourselves to 
have been Jews, then living, and expecting and desiring his 
coming. At length, it is said, "he is arrived." The first 
inquiry would very naturally be, is he the true Messiah, or 
is he an impostor ? If, then, to our inquiries made to him 
on that point, we had received in return nothing positive, 
but the vilest abuse, and threatenings of damnation in a 
future world, could we be expected to view him as the 
promised deliverer? When the Jews heard him denouncing 
them as hypocrites, and, at the same time, assuming an au- 
thority over Moses, and the laws of Jehovah given by Moses, 
and calling the Temple (for which they had so high a vene- 
ration) a den of thieves, it must have had a tendency to shut 
up their minds against his divine mission. If Jesus wished 
the Jews to be convinced of his being the personage whom 
they had long expected, he should, in the first place, have 
attended to their inquiry, " Art thou he lohich should come? 
or are we, to look for another ? " 

This question being settled, by indisputable evidence, Jesus 
16* 



}Q6 FACTS AND PERSONAGES OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. 

would have had a foundation for correcting what was wrong, 
and exposing their base conduct. But he began at the wrong 
end, by upbraiding them for their evil doings before he had 
convinced them of his being appointed to abrogate, or, in 
any way, to alter, the law of Moses. We may then safely 
conclude, if Jesus was divinely commissioned to the Jews, 
that it was not intended they should believe in him. But 
who, for a moment, can think, that, if the Almighty Ruler 
of the Universe had sent him, his mission would have been 
marked with trickery and deception, and have failed, and 
the Jews have been left in a state far worse than if he had 
never been among them 1 Can we reasonably conclude, that 
a Being of infinite wisdom and goodness would have sent 
his Son to the Jewish nation, without giving them any evi- 
dence of his being the Messiah, and then have taken advan- 
tage of their unbelief to deal out judgments against them 1 

If Jesus was sent into the world to die, and by dying, be- 
came " a sacrifice for the sins of mankind" then the Jews, 
by putting him to death, brought to maturity what God had 
ordained should come to pass. In that case, then, it is clear, 
that Jesus was so to act, that the Jews must not be convinced 
that he was the true and real Messiah, for had they believed 
in him as the restorer of their race, whom they had long ex- 
pected, they would not have slain the " Lord of life and 
glory." Then, how would he have paid the " ransom for 
lost sinners " ? But, on the other hand, if Jesus was sent 
by God to the Jewish nation, and gifted to perform signs and 
miracles to convert them, how did it happen that they re- 
mained in sin and unbelief; — their whole race, the seed of 
xibram, remaining in that state until the present time ? The 
Jews have surely been an unfortunate people. To the Jews, 
then, 1 must say, "I know not which demands the most 
pity — you, or your God; for, after all the attempts to sub- 
ject you to his will, you are a race of outcasts, and have 
been plundered by all the Christian nations on earth. After 
all the pains taken by the Lord of Hosts to convert you, 
every one has failed ; but the last failure is the most to be 
deplored. From the time Jehovah is said to have called 



FACTS AND PERSONAGES OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. j Qf 

Abram, your progenitor, and selected him from the rest of 
the human race, and promised him and his seed forever, 
blessings from which the rest of the world were excluded, 
Jehovah and your generations have ever been on bad terms. 
You are spoken of in Scripture as a stiff-necked, rebellious 
people. On the part of God, he has always appeared as if 
he was angry with your conduct. Forty years together, he 
says, he has been grieved with your disobedience. To such 
a height has been his displeasure, that thousands and tens 
of thousands of your nation have been cut off by the terrible 
judgments of the Lord. You have been led into captivity 
and sold as slaves, time after time, and Jehovah has even 
threatened to destroy your whole race. 

"Jehovah, in his anger, has raised heathen kings against 
you, and the slaughter has been dreadful. But when you 
have turned to the Lord, and humbled yourselves, he has 
attended to your cry, and delivered you out of their hands. 
Jehovah has, at times, inspired prophets who have foretold 
that you should one day have a personage appear among 
you, restore you to your former greatness, be to you a God, 
and you should be to him a people. This personage is said 
to have been among you, but you kneio him, not. You, then, 
from obedience to Jehovah, rejected Jesus as an impostor, 
and considered him as arrogating to himself Divine honor, 
and finally put him to death. And, for eighteen hundred 
years, you have suffered the most cruel treatment from every 
nation among whom you have dwelt. You have been the 
most unfortunate people on earth ; but you still cling to your 
prophets, and are looking for the coming of the Messiah. 

"And what appears more unfortunate than all your past 
evils, is, you have put to death, through mistake, your last 
refuge, the true Messiah. There are, at the present time, up- 
wards of one hundred millions of Christians who maintain 
and believe that the same Jesus whom ye slew and hanged 
on a tree, is in truth both Lord and Christ, the same whom 
your nation so long and so earnestly looked for. If, then, 
faith in that Christ whom you rejected, has opened the king- 
dom of heaven to the Christian world, while your whole race 



188 FACTS AND PERSONAGES OF THE NEW TESTAMENT 

is shut out, the Christians owe you a debt of everlasting 
gratitude, for by this sacrifice they are to enter into the Sup- 
per of the Lamb, and your unfortunate race have the door 
closed against them. But do not despair, for the Infidels of 
the present day are your friends. They will make all right. 
They will, if you attend to them, convince you that your 
forefathers were imposed on, when in a state of ignorance, 
by some artful impostor, who persuaded them that the seed 
of Abram was chosen by God to the exclusion of all other 
people and nations. 

"In the infancy of your nation, Moses, or some other art- 
ful leader, took advantage of yonr inexperience, and by an- 
tedating miracles said to have been performed in behalf of 
your ancestors by Jehovah, but which never were perform- 
ed, and which at the time was incapable of refutation, your 
nation imbibed the reality that the seed of Abram was the 
chosen of the Lord. This conviction for thousands of years 
has been received, and has been handed down from father 
to son till the present time. Yes, ye seed of Abram, (by this 
name I address you,) by considering yourselves the chosen 
people of God, this conviction has been your perpetual curse. 
Your faith in the ancient accounts of those miracles and 
wonders, wrought in your behalf by Moses, has been your 
fatal delusion. You consider it not possible for your fore- 
fathers to have been deceived; for, say you, the miracles and 
wonders were performed before your whole nation. 

" In this consists your error. There is no certainty as to 
who wrote the history of the wonders, said to have been 
wrought in your behalf, nor at what time they were first re- 
corded. But the internal evidence of the books ascribed to 
Moses, fully prove him not to have been the author. The 
same evidence also proves that the first five books were not 
written till after the reign of the first kings of Israel. So 
that, by antedating the wonders recorded to have taken place 
in the infancy of your nation, and then by a cunning impos- 
tor to have been subsequently presented for the first time to 
the Jews, giving them an account of those wonders of old, 
an ignorant nation would be likely to believe them ; and in 



FACTS AND PERSONAGES OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. 289 

that case a whole people would be converted at once, giving 
credit to an absurdity producing an influence in the world 
which has far exceeded any imposture that ever has been 
saddled on the human race. The dreadful error into which 
your forefathers fell, and by handing down to their posterity 
the foolish story of your being a chosen people, the greatest 
curse which could befal you, you have, without doubt, been 
the most unfortunate people on earth ; for by considering 
yourselves God's chosen people, you have despised the rest 
of the human race, and you have in return been persecuted 
and plundered. You have been treated by all nations as 
outcasts. 

"On the ground- work of your having been chosen by the 
supposed God of the universe, the world has assumed an ap- 
pearance very unlike to what it would have had, if no such 
imposition had been practised on your progenitors. Wars 
innumerable have taken place, and rivers of blood have flow- 
ed through the earth, occasioned by theological strife. Re- 
ligious quarrels, ending in the application of the rack and 
torture, and persecutions in quick succession, have been the 
result, and thousand of horrid cruelties have taken place in 
every age, all in consequence of that curse of all curses, the 
belief that God has a chosen people. Although it had doubt- 
less been thought by your nation the highest possible honor 
to be chosen by the Lord, this has proved your greatest mis- 
fortune ; for from this source, Christianity has been produced. 
You may exult in the idea, that you have, in your sacred 
books, the doctrine of but one God, notwithstanding your re- 
ligion and its Christian offspring has been more cruel and 
intolerant than any on earth. According to your own books, 
your nation and the God who chose them, were forever at 
war ; your people continually rebelling and receiving chas- 
tisement, till, at last, you are to appearance forsaken. But 
as has been before mentioned, the Infidels are your friends ; 
for, by means of free discussion, and the diffusion of useful 
knowledge, they will ultimately destroy that intolerant spirit 
which has been the earth's greatest curse, and you will 
eventually, with the rest of the human family, open your 



1 9Q FACTS AND PERSONAGES OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. 

eyes, and discover the folly and absurdity of believing in a 
God "partial, vengeful, and unjust." And then you will be 
no longer Jews, but will become men. 



CHAPTER IX. 



ON THE FACTS AND PERSONAGES IN THE NEW 
TESTAMENT. 

In the preceding chapter we have endeavored to ascertain 
the object of Christ's coming into the world, but without be- 
ing able to arrive at any positive conclusion. As it respected 
the Jews, they did, and they had a right to expect, that his 
coming would be to them a blessing ; and not, by any means, 
that it would prove disastrous in its consequences. It is, by 
Christians, contended that the primary object of the Messiah's 
advent was, to die for sinners; by which death he would 
make an atonement for the sins of the world. In this view 
of the case, (and the Scriptures seem to bear it out,) the Jews 
were altogether deceived, and are therefore objects of pity. 
The kingdom of heaven being opened to the world at large, 
to both Jew and Gentile, the Jews were unsuspectingly shut 
out That Christ did not intend to convince the Jews that 
he was the Messiah, seems to be warranted from the manner 
of his preaching to them ; his violence, and the abusive lan- 
guage he used, being calculated to prejudice them against 
him. And again, if Christ was to become a sacrifice for sin 
by expiring on the cross, somebody must put him to death, 
and the Jews are said to have been his executioners. The 
Jews, therefore, did that which the divine mind intended 
they should do. But such double-dealing and deception, in 
order to entrap the Jews, could never have originated with 
the Great Eternal, the unchangeable ruler of all things. 



FACTS AND PERSONAGES OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. JQJ 

In Teading the history of Jesus, (written nobody knows by 
whom, or whether by his authority or not,) we must judge 
of him by the account as it stands. It certainly appears 
strange that we have no intimation that Jesus gave any or- 
ders to his Apostles to write, or in any way to transmit to 
posterity an account of his life or doctrines. And it appears 
more singular, when we consider in how particular a manner 
the laws of Moses were written, which, without doubt, is 
what kept the Jews from being divided into a number of 
sects. But so neglected were the sayings and doings c£ 
Jesus, that, soon after his death, forty or fifty Gospels were 
abroad ; an equal number of sects sprang up, and the various 
religious dogmas were introduced, which, till the present day, 
have divided the Christian world, and, at times, have pro- 
duced wars, persecutions, and blood. On so important a 
subject as the salvation of the human race, it might reasona- 
bly be expected that the founder of Christianity would have 
left some documents to guard against so destructive an evil. 
This entire neglect, if not positive proof against the divine 
mission of Jesus, must create doubts leading to the conclusion 
that the Christian religion is deficient as to the evidence of 
its divine origin. It appears from the Gospels that Jesus was 
a moral reformer • that the priests and rulers were proud, 
haughty, and of wicked dispositions ; that the founder of the 
Christian religion exposed their hypocritical pretensions, and 
that, by thus exciting their malice, he fell a victim. This 
has been the fate of hundreds of moral reformers, in different 
ages and nations. 

Christians, of all sects, could they be brought to reason im- 
partially on the mission of Jesus, would have their faith 
shaken, from the following considerations : — Admitting, as 
all Christians do, that the Jewish religion is of divine au- 
thority, and had for ages been by the Jews considered as 
such, to set that aside and introduce another, required au- 
thority from heaven, but such authority was never given. 
The bare word of Jesus, that he was the sum and substance 
of the law of MoseSj both moral and ceremonial, seems to be 
insufficient, The Jews, however base or immoral they were, 



X92 FACTS AND PERSONAGES OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. 

as a nation never showed a want of faithfulness when their 
religion was assailed. So that it appears, that to do away 
with the form of worship, and introduce a new order of 
things, required something more than the obscure sayings 
of Jesus, who was but little known at the time of his death. 
If, by the coming of Christ, a new dispensation was to su- 
persede the old, then the highest and the most incontroverti- 
ble authority should be produced. But this was not the 
case, for Jesus often charged those whom he had cured of 
some disease, " to tell no man " how they were made whole : 
as much as to say, "Keep secret with respect to the person 
who restored you to your former state." We need not won- 
der that the Jews rejected Jesus, seeing that he assumed an 
authority higher than that of Moses ; for, at the giving of 
the law on the mountain, it was Jehovah himself who spake 
to them. The Jews, then, considered that the same God 
who gave the law, and he alone, must change it, or intro- 
duce another, and not a person whose object in coming they 
could not comprehend, and who taught doctrines, a very 
great portion of which, were of a threatening and menacing 
character. 

And, finally, so little did Christ's disciples understand of 
his divine mission, that, when he was betrayed, Peter, the 
boldest of them all, became alarmed, and denied any know- 
ledge of him. This was very strange in Peter, if it was a 
fact that he heard Moses and Elias, at a former time, con- 
versing with his Divine Master. But be that as it may, 
Jesus is reported to have suffered death on the cross, one of 
his disciples informing against him to the rulers, for the pal- 
try sum of thirty pieces of silver, and another swearing he 
never knew him. This has often happened, when a bold 
reformer has been taken into custody ; his followers would 
disown and forsake him ; but it is not likely that Peter would 
thus have acted, had he witnessed the mighty deeds said to 
have been done by Jesus. I remember hearing an Unitarian 
minister remark, that "If Moses could return from the dead, 
how he would be surprised to read what was written of him 
after his death : and that he would say that the wonderful 



FACTS AND PERSONAGES OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. ^93 

things reported of him, he knew nothing about." This, no 
doubt, would be the case with Jesus, as all his mighty works 
are recorded of him, but none were recorded by him. 

As his resurrection was the key-stone of the Christian 
arch, some observations on that all-important event will be 
made. Whatever Jesus communicated to his disciples re- 
specting his rising from the dead, during his life, is not re- 
corded; but it appears that his death entirely frustrated their 
expectations. The resurrection of Jesus presented the most 
favorable opportunity to dispel all doubts of the Messiahship 
of him whom the Jews had put to death as an impostor. It 
will be in order, then, to observe what steps were taken by 
Jesus, after his resurrection, to convince the Jews, and the 
world at large, that his mission was from heaven. This, of 
all times, was the fittest to convince the Jews of their unfor- 
tunate mistake. The short account given in the Gospels, 
does not afford much light on that subject. But if the Jews, 
as a nation, had still retained their unbelief, such incredulity 
must soon have given way by his continuing among them. 

If the Jews, from mistaken convictions, did put Jesus to 
death, it seems but just that they should have had a chance 
to rectify their unfortunate error. But owing to the short 
stay of Jesus on earth, after his resurrection, and he being 
the most of that time in company with his disciples, the 
Jews had not an opportunity of fully investigating the re- 
ality of his death and re-appearance, and his deportment 
after it was said he was returned to life. The greatest diffi- 
culty experienced by Christians in defending the divine au- 
thority of the New Testament Dispensation, is, to account 
for the sudden departure of Jesus, who, according to the 
Scripture record, was taken up into heaven in a few weeks 
after his resurrection. To an inquiring mind, there are 
many objections which deserve notice. The writer does not 
pretend to say that the thing is impossible, because to deny 
the possibility of it would be to set limits to the power that 
governs the universe. 

We will examine the account of Jesus' s leaving this world 
so soon, to discover, if possible, what end was to be obtained 
17 



194 FACTS AND PERSONAGES OF THE NEW TESTAMENT, 

by his sudden departure from the scene of his suffering and 
degradation. It seems reasonable to suppose that it was of 
the highest importance for Jesus to stay on earth to establish 
Christianity on a sure foundation. It is written that he told 
his disciples that it was for their good that things were so 
arranged that he should leave them, for if he went away, he 
would send the comforter to them, who was to be their 
guide, and to bring to their remembrance the things he had 
told them; and also that the Holy Ghost, the comforter, 
would, to make up for his absence, lead them into the way 
of truth. This is, in substance, what they were to expect. 
But unfortunately it did not take place, but the reverse ; for, 
from the accounts which have come down to us, a great 
number of sects sprang up in a few years after Jesus left 
the world, and numerous gospels were extant, which, for a 
number of years were quoted by the early Fathers of the 
Church, and were considered authentic : but were afterwards 
rejected, and are now bound up together and called "The 
Rejected Gospels." 

In the beginning of the fourth century, the Christian sects 
were not only numerous, but began to assume a spirit of in- 
tolerance and persecution, and when that monster, Constan- 
tino, became a convert to Christianity, religious quarrels 
were of the most violent character. Not to dwell on the 
particulars of these religious differences, we may ask, what 
did they quarrel about? The answer is at hand. They 
quarrelled about something that Jesus was reported to have 
said or taught. Their disputes were not of a moral, but of a 
theological description. In these disputed subjects no stand- 
ard of reference could be set up. Jesus was at the right 
hand of his Father, and their differences could not be set- 
tled by him. Quarrel after quarrel followed in quick succes- 
sion ; the strong persecuted the weak : and the earth was 
deluged with blood. Constantine, the Roman Emperor, 
hoisted the banner of the cross ; and after having murdered 
nearly the whole of his own family, he sought consolation 
from that religion which says, that u the blood of Jesus 
cleanses from all sin*" 



FACTS AND PERSONAGES OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. ,^95 

The history of Jesus, including his doctrines, and also 
what the apostles taught concerning him, and the belief in 
his second coming; the different opinions that have arisen 
concerning the person of Christ ; and also, the various dog- 
mas collected from the writers of the gospels, all taken from 
what is called divine revelation, have never ceased to gener- 
ate quarrels among the different churches professing to be 
Christian. Ever since the commencement of Christianity, 
there has been little else but religious animosity among the 
different sects — each of them professing to have the truth, 
to the exclusion of all the rest ; all of them appealing to the 
same word of God to support their various dogmas. We 
may then ask, has that proclamation ever been fulfilled, that 
was made by a multitude of the " heavenly host ," namely, — 
" Peace on earth and good-will towards men"? But no 
doubt its fulfilment is, in point of truth, equal to its ever hav- 
ing been given ; for angels are airy nothings, and have no 
existence but in the imagination. 

From what has been stated, it will be seen that the re- 
ligious quarrels which have taken place from the commence- 
ment of the Christian era, arose from the uncertain standard 
appealed to by the various sects. They all referred to some 
particular passage or passages recorded, either by Christ or 
his apostles. Every sect had a portion of truth supported by 
Scripture authority ; and it has at times happened, that whole 
congregations, as well as individuals, have changed their 
opinions concerning what the Scriptures taught. For in- 
stance : a Church, believing that the Scriptures taught the 
doctrine of the Trinity, have given up that doctrine, and 
embraced Unitarianism. The Scriptures remained the same ; 
it was their opinions that underwent the change. In fact, 
every sect has Scripture for its support ; so that it is plain to 
be seen, that the New Testament is not, nor ever can be, a 
true and certain rule to which a reference can be made, 
whereby disputes can be ended. The Old Testament was 
superior in this respect to the New. And now, after eighteen 
hundred years' righting, in which time, tens of thousands 
have been victims, and the earth has been drenched by hu~ 



296 FACTS AND PERSONAGES OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. 

man blood, nothing is certain as to what Christianity really 
is. Can it then be possible, that the God of the Universe 
would have left that religion (to establish which, his Son ex- 
pired on the cross.) in such a wretched state of uncertainty, 
by calling him so early to his holy habitation 1 Impossible. 

If Christ was taken from this earth, he has now a local 
habitation, and, also, he must he actively employed. Can 
Christians conceive where he is, and what he is doing ? Is 
it possible he would have remained so long absent, knowing, 
as he must, that the cause for which he suffered would be so 
wretchedly carried on ? The absence of Christ, if not the 
entire cause, is one cause of all the religious wars and blood- 
shed among nations, and, also, of the hostile feelings of one 
sect against another. Had he remained on earth, there 
would have been but " one Lord, and his name one." If 
Jesus died for the salvation of the world, common sense 
would dictate, that, after his resurrection, he would dwell 
in that world for whose salvation he came, and not have 
been taken into heaven before his plan of redemption was 
arranged ; so that, instead of union and harmony prevailing 
in his absence, by disunion, persecution, and religious war- 
fare, the different churches exhibited a complete confusion 
of tongues. 

If Jesus had remained on earth, all religious persecution 
would have been prevented ; for if his laws and regulations 
had been written, and to each church a copy had been sent, 
it would not have been possible for any difference of opinion 
to have brought on disorder so as materially to have dis- 
turbed the peace of his church. And if any dispute had 
taken place, Jesus, dwelling on any particular spot on earth, 
his authority could, in such a case, have been appealed to, 
and the matter would have been peaceably settled. But, 
after his death and resurrection, there was nothing to which 
a reference could be made, but certain Gospels written by 
unknown persons. 

In summing up this matter, the following remarks may 
safely and truly be made : — In a short time after Jesus arose 
from the dead, it was declared by his apostles, that he had 



FACTS AND PERSONAGES OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. 



197 



ascended into heaven, and had left orders for the Gospel, or 
good news, to be proclaimed throughout the world ; and that 
after remaining with his disciples a few weeks, when on a 
journey with some of them, a cloud intervened, and they 
lost sight of him. Before his death, Jesus had told them to 
watch for his second coming, for that it would be sudden and 
unexpected ; and he also added, that there were those stand- 
ing among them that would live to see it, and that he should 
then appear in glory, attended by angels, judge the world, 
and reward every man acccording to his deeds. The apos- 
tles taught this doctrine, and the early Christians looked for 
that event with eager expectation. But a long and dreary 
night of religious intolerance has nearly passed away, and 
Jesus has not yet arrived ; during which night, the world 
has witnessed scenes of horror unknown to the most savage 
ages of antiquity. 

All this confusion and wretchedness must have been known 
by Jesus, and also by his Father, at whose right hand it is 
recorded that he is sitting. Now can Christians conceive 
where Christ has been, or what he has been doing? Strange, 
indeed, does it apppear, that, during the disorder and vio- 
lence in which the Christian Church was involved for ages, 
when thousands of honest, pious, and sincere Christians were 
put to death, their Redeemer could sit quietly in heaven and 
not interfere in their behalf ! Perhaps it ought to be more 
strange, that it was the will of God that Jesus should ever 
have left that world which was the scene of his suffering. 

Looking at the plan of human redemption, from the time 
of the birth of Jesus, and the incomplete finish made of it 
by his being taken up into heaven, leaving his followers ig- 
norant of what he meant during his preaching on earth; — 
knowing, too, that the various sects have kept the world in 
an uproar, destroying each other by thousands, and that all 
these eVils have taken place in consequence of Jesus being 
quietly seated by the right hand of God, — these considera- 
tions, and many others not noticed in this work, convince 
me, that the mission of Christ was not of Divine authority. 

The following remarks will contain, in substance, the 
17* 



298 FACTS AND PERSONAGES OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. 

strongest objection against the divinity of Christ's mission ; 
and are given by the author as presenting his final conclu- 
sions on that subject. And here he would ask — If the God 
of the Bible is, as Christians believe, the Author of the uni- 
verse, what are we to understand by the assertion, " That 
Jesus is seated at his right hand ? " God is a spirit pervad- 
ing all space, of whom one of the Scripture writers says, 
" In him we live, and move, and have our being" The same 
idea was expressed by the Greeks in reference to their su- 
preme God, — " All things are full of Jupiter." How, then, 
can it be believed that the unknown power who is the God 
of all creation has a local dwelling place ? 

Jesus, after his resurrection, declared that he had " flesh 
and bone" How, then, he can be located with an universal 
spirit, is beyond human conception. As Jesus is a being 
possessed of a tangible form, he must have a place of resi- 
dence ; and it is impossible that he can dwell with his God 
and Father in any other than a local habitation. The sup- 
position, then, that the Almighty Ruler of all worlds has a 
palace on some fixed star, or planet, where Jesus has for 
eighteen hundred years resided in company with the Infinite 
Creator, surrounded by angels conversing and singing; the 
Devil, during the same time, " going about like a roaring 
lion seeking whom he might devour" while Christians were 
cutting each other's throats in consequence of their disputes 
about the meaning of what Christ said, or the object of his 
performances on earth, is very unlikely, to say the least of it. 

It seems astonishing that men, possessed of the noble facul- 
ty of reason, can believe that Jesus is now alive in some un- 
known world, and in company with the Sovereign Ruler of 
nature. In conclusion, the author of this work (over whose 
head seventy- three summers' suns have passed,) would 
say that he does not, cannot believe that the Jesus of the 
Christians has any existence but in the imagination of his 
followers. 



REMARKS 



ON THE 



MORALITY OF NATURE. 



CONCLUSION, 



REMARKS ON THE MORALITY OF NATURE. 

Having concluded my remarks on the Old and New Testa- 
ments, I have thought it proper to give a chapter on Morali- 
ty. I do this to prevent the reader from concluding that, 
because I am not a believer in the Divine authority of the 
Old and New Testaments, I disregard all moral obligation, 
and do not hold myself accountable to God, Nature, or my 
fellow beings. Nothing can be further from truth than such 
a conclusion. If no such being as God exists, who will 
judge every man at the final day of accounts ; and if no 
such judgment will ever take place, admitting all this, even 
then should I stand in the same relation to my fellow beings 
in a moral point of view. 

Christian preachers, generally, teach their hearers the en- 
tire worthlessness of good works, without they are connected 
with faith in the Gospel. This mode of treating unbelievers 
has a bad effect on the minds of church members, who, giv- 
ing full credit to the pastor of the flock, are taught to con- 
sider that the person, or persons (however just, humane and 
virtuous they may be in all their actions,) who do not come 
up to the standard of their faith, are wicked, and will, at the 
day of judgment, be condemned, and their sentence will be, 
" Go. ye cursed, into everlasting fire" &c. We need not 
wonder, therefore, at the intolerant spirit which is so active 
among all professing the Christian name. Notwithstanding 



202 REMARKS ON THE MORALITY OF NATURE 

the moral precepts taught by Jesus, his followers, at the 
present day, pay but little regard to them. To believe in the 
Saviour, and consider him as the endorser of their sins, and 
presenting their claims at the throne of the Eternal, form an 
easy way for expiating a life of wickedness and cant. If we 
compare the moral character of professing Christians with the 
precepts taught by Jesus, we shall be surprised at the vast 
discordance between their profession and their practice. We 
find that, in practice, Christianity is hostile to justice and hu- 
manity. 

This is easy to be accounted for. It is because the Scrip- 
tures represent our most virtuous actions as worthless in the 
sight of God, and without faith we are told it is impossible to 
please him ; and this is not all : much depends on what kind 
of faith it is. The followers of John Calvin think the faith 
of the disciples of John Wesley but little better than the faith 
of devils, u who believe and tremble." It has been because 
men have judged by their faith, and not by moral rectitude, 
that one Christian sect has persecuted even to death, others 
who have borne the Christian name. It was this spirit of 
intolerance that propelled John Calvin to cause Servetus to 
be burnt by a slow fire, not because he was a wicked man, 
nor was it for want of faith in the Christian religion, but be- 
cause the faith of Servetus did not agree with the faith of 
John Calvin. Had moral excellence been the standard of 
their friendship, and virtue the bond of their union, Servetus 
would have died in peace, and Calvin would not have been 
handed down to posterity as a cold-hearted murderer. 

It is the common practice of Christians, when in conversa- 
tion with Infidels, to boast of the purity of Christ's moral pre- 
cepts ; but in all their sayings and doings with Infidels, the 
want of faith is the unpardonable crime which induces them 
to fix the badge of infamy on the head of the unbeliever. No 
doubt cruel Calvin would very good-naturedly shake hands 
with a brother of his own church and creed, and love him 
for Christ's sake ; but at the same time torment poor Servetus 
to death, as the enemy of God, for God's sake. Oh ! ye per- 
secuting Christians ! your prayers ought ever to be opposed 



REMARKS ON THE MORALITY OF NATURE, 203 

to a day of judgment, and your constant hope should be, that 
it will never take place, for u how can you escape the damna- 
tion of hell?" 

It is the high estimation of faith, enforced by Christ, and 
also insisted on (as the sure passport to glory) by his follow- 
ers, that compels them to consider virtue as worthless, when 
it is not in connection with what is called saving faith, which 
makes it clear to be seen that Christianity in its practice is 
not favorable to morality ; for as the Scriptures truly say that 
u no man can serve two masters" so faith will be always up- 
permost, and justice and humanity be placed in the back- 
ground. On this principle, hard-hearted Calvin acted towards 
Serve tus. Christians are commanded to do good for evil. 
L *If your enemy hunger, feed him; if he thirst, give him 
drink" This is pure morality. Thus we see that morality 
has no chance of justice when faith is the prosecutor. The 
moral precepts of the New Testament have never been strong 
enough to neutralize the violent and intolerant spirit that 
runs throughout the Scriptures, and which is the very life of 
the Christian faith. Had Servetus been a criminal of the 
worst kind, condemned to die by the laws of Geneva, Calvin, 
no doubt, would have had feelings of pity for him ; but his 
crime came under the dominion of faith, which will not, 
which cannot admit of one grain of mercy. 

On the contrary, Infidel morality has no alloy. It is una- 
dulterated. Like pure gold, it is current at all times, and in 
all places. Like the bright orb of day, it shines by its own 
native brightness. Its principal attribute is humanity, which, 
in its exercise, is not confined to creeds, or professions ; but 
like the bountiful hand of nature, it dispenses its blessings 
even to the unthankful and unworthy. If justice demands 
its aid, the balance is held even without regard to color or 
clime. I have often been reminded, that if we did not take 
the Scriptures for our guide, we should then have no rule to 
regulate our actions. This remark would be more conclusive, 
if Christians generally acted up to what they profess; but 
this is not the case : nor will it ever be, so long as faith is 
the only sure passport to the Christian heaven, for it is a 



204 REMARKS ON THE MORALITY OF NATURE. 

fact that many preachers of the Gospel are the worst charac- 
ters in society. At the same time that they are preaching 
up holiness of life, it is discovered that they for years have 
been living in the indulgence of the most filthy of vices ; and 
thus while they are thundering against the Devil as the 
enemy of souls, they are only abusing their betters. 

This being the truth, it is time that morality should be 
dissevered from all religious creeds, and stand on its own in- 
trinsic merits. Religion has taught man that he is poor and 
helpless ; that he has no power to act ; that he has no desire 
to perform virtuous actions, and that he himself and his fellow 
beings are, by some (to him unaccountable) destiny, thrown 
at so vast a distance from his Creator, that he can approach 
him only by the means of kneeling and prostration, and that 
he is so far indebted to his Maker, who will have full pay- 
ment to the last cent. Being ignorant of his real situation in 
the universe, and also of the resources of his mind, he over- 
looks or undervalues the strength he possesses, and neglects 
the means which God or nature puts within his reach to be 
both virtuous and happy. 

In this state of mind, he seeks for happiness in a religion 
the author of which is depicted as a being like himself. It is. 
then, the vast importance which has been attached to faith in 
the Redeemer, which has made the path to heaven so smooth, 
and easy for the Christian traveller, that moral rectitude has 
been thought of but little consideration in his road to glory. 
Let me, says the Christian, make sure of my interest in 
Christ, and my salvation is sure. Hence, we often find, that 
even Gospel ministers are men of the basest description ; at 
the same time their hearers are consoled, with believing that 
their immoral pastor is sound in the faith, resting firmly on 
the u rock of ages.'' 

The importance of faith is not the abuse of Christianity ; 
it is the thing itself. Jesus taught it to his disciples, and 
blames them for having so little. But when Peter, his trusty 
servant, in a passion, cut off a man's ear, his divine Master 
only gave him a gentle rebuke, telling him to be careful how 



REMARKS ON THE MORALITY OF NATURE. gQ5 

he used the sword, for he might have to go in mourning for 
his own ears. 

The consistent Infidel, who renounces all religious creeds, 
and who views the whole human family as beings possessing 
the same faculties, subject to the same wants, and liable to 
the same misfortunes as himself, can, by the use of his rea- 
son, without the aid of revelation, discover the duties which 
he owes to himself, and also the true relation in which he 
stands to his fellow mortals. He, by what he observes 
around him, and by what he feels within himself, can see 
clearly the correct line of duty, and can, at any time, draw 
a just conclusion as to his moral standing in society. But 
it is far otherwise with the Christian, whose whole depend- 
ence is on what his Saviour has done for him. He is alter- 
nately disturbed with doubts and fears as to the ground on 
which he stands : and being taught that his best efforts to 
attain a moral elevation by a steady course of virtuous ac- 
tions, is considered by his Maker worse than nothing, he 
loses sight of the high responsibility he stands in, in relation 
to his fellow man. 

In proportion, then, as faith is considered superior to 
moral virtue, the first is sought after, and highly valued, and 
the latter is neglected as of little consideration in securing 
happiness in this life or in that which is to come. We need 
not, therefore, be surprised that Christians, as a class, fall 
far below Infidels in point of moral rectitude. Christianity. 
at best, is a cold-hearted system ; its followers are generally 
unsocial. They are taught to "love not the world nor the 
things of the world/' Jesus himself says to his disciples, 
" Ye are not of the world, even as I am not of the world; but 
because I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world 
hateth you.'' Pride and intolerance are leading features in 
the conduct of Christians generally. These defects among 
professors of religion, arise from the belief that faith in 
Christ, as their Redeemer, secures them heaven ; and as it 
respects the duties of life, they hold them very lightly, 
regarding them as matters of little or no weight in the article 
of salvation. 
*18 



206 REMARKS ON THE MORALITY OF NATURE. 

Professors of the Christian religion, at the same time that 
they consider that faith in the divine mission of Jesus se- 
cures them an acceptance with God, and that moral recti- 
tude without faith in the Redeemer, is worthless in the sight 
of God, are compelled to admit, that where good works and 
virtuous conduct are wanting, the faith of the individual not 
being supported by Justice, Humanity, and Chastity, with 
all the virtues which adorn human nature, the damnation of 
such an one is doubly sure. So that, after all, this thing 
called faith borrows all its brightness and real value from 
moral rectitude. Faith, like a planet, is in itself a dark 
body, and has no light but what it receives from the bright 
sun of moral excellency. 

The very nature and spirit of the Christian religion, is in- 
tolerant. It says, " Whosoever, believes, shall be saved ; and 
he that believeth not. shall be damned." This is the firm 
ground on which the Christian stands, and where he must 
continue to stand. If he quits this strong hold, he ceases to 
be a Christian, and, of necessity, becomes an Infidel. It 
follows, then, that believers in the Divine authority of the 
Bible must continue to be, what they always have been, in- 
tolerant and persecuting. How differently do those feel who 
have given up all ideas of Divine Revelation ! They attach 
no consequence to faith, whatever. They have no disposi- 
tion even to blame, much less to injure persons who believe 
in the most absurd inconsistencies. They, on the contrary, 
feel the most lively interest in their happiness, knowing that 
no one can control the honest convictions of the mind. 

The Infidel, then, has the advantage, in a moral point of 
view, over the Christian, for the following reasons: — The 
Infidel has not to defend the character nor the actions of any 
God or Gods, particularly of a God "partial, vengeful, and 
unjust." He imbibes no angry feelings, by believing in a 
God of cruelty and carnage. The Infidel has divested his 
mind of the nonsense and inconsistency of considering un- 
belief as a crime ; and, also, of the fallacy that men can 
credit absurdities on insufficient evidence. He perceives 
that every man's religion is, to a very large extend, a conse- 



REMARKS ON THE MORALITY OF NATURE. 



207 



quence of the circumstances of his situation in early life, and 
the influences which surrounded him at his birth. The In- 
fidel, therefore, has no inducement whatever to injure those 
who differ from him in opinion ; for, by detaching all impor- 
tance from faith, and referring entirely to good and virtuous 
actions, he escapes all those angry theological quarrels in 
which Christians are more or less involved. So that the 
mind of an unbeliever is in a sound and calm state, not har- 
rowed up by the terrors of an avenging God, and the thoughts 
of endless damnation. 

These evils, and many more, the Infidel is not exposed to ; 
consequently his mind is at rest ; his sense of degradation is 
not because he is taught to believe that he is a poor lost sin- 
ner ; he feels degraded only in proportion as he neglects the 
duties which he owes to his fellow men. The unbeliever, 
then, being free from the terror of doubting that which he 
feels it is impossible for him to credit, commences to walk in 
the path of moral rectitude, considering his own nature, and 
the connection he occupies in relation to society, composed 
of beings like himself. He listens to the voice of reason, and 
clearly understands that which God or nature has done for 
him, and also that which remains for him to do for himself. 
Leaving forever all religious dogmas, calculated to bewilder 
his mind, his moral path is as clear as light. No longer 
standing on the fearful precipice of faith, trembling at every 
step, or chain-bound in a state of inaction, the Infidel cheer- 
fully travels on in the practice of justice and humanity with 
a calmness of mind to which the Christian is a stranger. He 
has no angry God to dread, nor any tempting Devil, against 
whom the Christian must forever be on the watch. 

xlll human beings on arriving at maturity, find themselves 
placed by an unknown power in a world, in which they 
will have to enjoy pleasure or happiness, and also to endure 
pain. This is the destiny of all, without exception. The 
same power which propelled us into existence, has made it a 
law of our nature to dread or shrink from pain, and also to 
desire and love ease and pleasure. And here we can at 
once we discover what God or nature has done for us, and 



208 REMARKS ON THE MORALITY OF NATURE 

likewise what is left for us to perform for ourselves. This, 
then, is the stock of moral material with which mortals com- 
mence a life of pleasure and pain. The same unknown 
power has also given man and woman reason, by the exer- 
cise of which they can augment their pleasure, and reduce 
their pain. By the use of man's rational powers, he can 
plainly discover his duty towards beings like himself. He 
loves happiness, ease, and every thing which makes life 
worth having ; so also, do his fellow beings. He hates and 
retreats from positive pain ; so does every being which has 
life, animals not excepted. What revelation, then, but this, 
does man want to teach him that which he owes to himself, 
and likewise those things he ought to practise to every being 
that has life and feeling? 

And the voice of God, or nature, calls to every rational 
being in language which, but for false religion, all would 
understand. Mortals ! attend to what is done for your per- 
manent happiness. Ignorance and neglect are the causes of 
most of the evils which torment you. You are made to love 
happiness ; you are also made to shrink from and hate pain. 
Every human being is subject to the same laws ; only attend 
to the moral this contains. You have no excuse for inflict- 
ing pain on any living creature, because you know that every 
being possessing life is governed by the same feelings as 
yourself. God, or nature, has so arranged things as to in- 
duce mortals to practise virtue, and to be kind to every thing 
that possesses life and feeling ; because, by acting agreeably 
to the laws of your own organization, you become happy in 
yourself, and have the additional pleasure of making others 
happy also. What excuse, then, can men have for neglect- 
ing the duties they owe to every thing that has life and feel- 
ing? Do they need a revelation to inform them that they 
ought to be just and humane ? Do they require information 
from heaven to inform them that cruelty to man or animals 
is wicked? Let them but consult their own feelings ; full in- 
formation is at hand calling on them to practise kindness and 
compassion. 

Do men and women need the Bible to learn the duty in- 






REMARKS ON THE MORALITY OF NATURE. 209 

eumbent on them toward their offspring? Must we read the 
pretended word of God in order to discover that the husband 
ought to be kind and in every way faithful to his wife, (mak- 
ing allowance for her weakness, either of body or mind,) and 
perform every duty connected with her permanent happi- 
ness 1 Man requires no Divine aid, beyond the exercise of 
his reason, to inform him that, in order to be happ}^ in this 
life, he must be just, peaceable, sober, and temperate in all 
things ; chaste, a lover of truth, kind, and humane to all be- 
ings who possess life. Let every human being, then, turn to 
the laws of his own organization, namely, to his love of hap- 
piness, and aversion to pain. These laws will give him un- 
erring instruction as to the duties which he has to perform, 
and also as to what evils he is to avoid. 

This is indeed a Divine revelation, which will never de- 
ceive or lead astray. Man carries it within himself. It dif- 
fers from all pretended Divine revelation. It is suitable at 
all times, and in all places. It requires no priest to explain 
it. It changes not with times and circumstances. These 
laws of our nature (the love of happiness and aversion to 
pain) are a never-failing revelation, to which we can always 
refer with entire confidence, as a true revelation of God or 
nature. Away, then, with the childish question, " If you take 
away the Bible, what will you give us in its stead" ? The 
short and final answer to which is, study the laws of your 
organization, and direct your reason to their interpretation, 
and let the priest read his Bible, and exclaim against unbelief. 
The reader will now understand the views the Infidels have 
of moral rectitude ; and if the principles are faithfully carried 
out in our journey through life, the end of all will be peace. 
These moral principles were enforced (for upwards of eight 
years) in Tammany Hall. They are now spreading far 
and wide, and instead of producing evil in society, they are 
calculated to ensure " peace on earth and good-will towards 
men." 

It is because the Christian world have been taught to de- 
pend on a Saviour for the pardon of the worst of crimes, be- 
lieving that the price was paid by Christ as a ransom from 
18* 



210 REMAKES ON THE MORALITY OF NATURE. 

the captivity of the Devil, that it is destructive of pure moral- 
ity. The apostles maintained this doctrine ; and from them, 
till now, the true and Orthodox faith is. that moral rectitude 
has nothing to do, abstractly considered, with the salvation 
of the soul, but faith in what Christ has done and suffered. 
This doctrine is not only unfavorable to virtue, but it places 
the basest of mankind in a superior point of view to those 
whose whole lives have been distinguished by the practice 
of correct moral actions. That divines view and act on the 
vicarious sacrifice of Christ as being alone sufficient in the 
last hour to save sinners, we need but to refer to the atten- 
tion paid by them to criminals up to the last moments of 
their lives. It is faith in the Redeemer, which gives a pass- 
port to glory to a wretch, who but a few days before had mur- 
dered perhaps a good father and mother. No matter what 
his crimes, or how large the number, only let him believe in 
the Saviour, and, although the guilty criminal is consid- 
ered unworthy to live one hour longer on earth, yet ac- 
cording to the Gospel plan of salvation, he is promised, and 
induced to believe that he will in the evening of the same 
day join in the song of angels and chant the praises of the 
Great Eternal. 

If the doctrine of saving faith be true, the thief or mur- 
derer, if the law lays hold of him, and the fear of the gallows 
induces him to rely on Jesus, goes directly to heaven ; where- 
as, if he had been honest and virtuous, but had not faith in 
Christ, he might have died in his sins and gone to hell ! 
Oh ! how consistent is Orthodox salvation with justice and 
truth ! In one case, the Orthodox Christian is in truth con- 
sistent. It is this : that in this life, even in New York, a 
man will not be admitted as a church member, however vir- 
tuous. He must be a sinner, or he cannot be admitted. So, 
also, in heaven, a good man must not enter. It would be no 
injustice to say that every religious society should have it writ- 
ten in large capitals over the door-way of its building — " No 
honest men admitted as members here — sinners are always 
welcome." The same should be posted at the gate of hea- 
ven. Although this statement may to some appear wicked 



REMARKS ON THE MORALITY OF NATURE. 211 

and untrue, it is correct in the Christian spirit, and also true 
to the letter. Honest men have no business in Christian 
churches, as they will also be rejected in heaven. The worst 
of characters make the best Christians, if they can bring one 
grain of mustard-seed faith to the altar of Jehovah. 

The Christian who depends for salvation and acceptance, 
in a future life, is never at rest in this. He has no correct 
standard whereby to judge whether he has saving faith. 
His hopes and his fears are regulated by his feelings, not by 
his conduct. If, for instance, his animal spirits are depressed, 
he desponds, and considers that the Lord has withdrawn 
from him the light of his countenance. He trembles, and in 
the agony of his mind, cries out, u I believe, O Lord, help 
thou mine unbelief." Let him become cheerful, and his 
mind become buoyant, he then considers himself sure that 
he has, what is called, an interest in Christ. 

Moral rectitude is out of the question. All the moral vir- 
tues combined, and brought into action, are as nothing, in 
the sight of the Christian's God. The sinner's debt is paid, 
by the sufferings of Jesus on the cross. So that, according 
to the plan of human redemption, if Jesus had been acquit- 
ted on his trial, the whole human race would die (as the 
Scripture phrase is) in their sins. It then follows, that, as 
man's acceptance with God, and the salvation of his soul, is 
in consequence of the sacrifice made by Christ on the cross,- 
his moral rectitude is of little consequence. The all-impor- 
tant state of the believer is, not the soundness of his morals, 
but the relying by faith on Jesus for what he has done by 
his suffering on the " accursed tree." This doctrine is the 
consolation of the murderer at the gallows; and the same 
reliance on what Jesus has suffered for the human race, was 
what consoled and supported Andrew Jackson in his last 
moments, as reported by the newspapers. 

The Christian religion, by teaching believers to trust in a 
Saviour for the pardon of crimes of the worst description, 
has been an obstacle in the way of attaining to that moral 
excellence which is calculated to dignify human nature. 
Faith, the "pearl of great price" has, ever since the intro- 



212 REMARKS ON THE MORALITY OF NATURE. 

duction of Christian theology, obscured the path of virtue, 
and invested its haughty possessor with an intolerant dispo- 
sition, accountable only to the tribunal of faith; and, having 
broken loose from the restraints of moral obligation, has, as 
it were, laughed to scorn the principles of justice, of chastity 
and humanity. And yet, one and all, who profess Christ- 
ianity, charge those who consider moral worth superior to 
faith, with demoralizing youth, and corrupting the manners 
of the age in which they live. 

Before concluding this chapter, it will be useful to inquire, 
in what way the world has been benefitted by propagating 
the heaven-born doctrine of faith in the Redeemer's king- 
dom '? The page of history bears witness, that, for eighteen 
hundred years, with but short intervals of rest, a large por- 
tion of the earth has been the theatre of crime and war, 
cruelty and murder ; and this state of things has been 
brought about by the uncertainty of what Christianity is. 
When the reputed Founder of the Christian faith was about 
to leave this world, to sit. at the right hand of his Father, he 
told them that his absence would be to his followers a real 
blessing; for it is recorded, that he said to them that " the 
Comforter 11 would abundantly supply his place — that is, or 
was to be, the Holy Ghost, who would " lead them into all 
truth, aud farms' to their remembrance all things which he 
had told them" But this promise, if ever made, proved a 
total failure ; for soon after Christ, their Divine Master, left 
this earth, upwards of forty different sects arose, and began 
to dispute and quarrel about what Jesus, while on earth, 
taught, concerning the kingdom of heaven. Sect opposed 
sect, party opposed party, and Christianity became involved 
in mystery. Conventions were formed, and the worst pas- 
sions soon gave proof that the multitude of angels, who, at 
the birth of Christ proclaimed, that ''-peace on earth, and 
good-ioill towards men" would be realized, were sadly mis- 
taken. Nothing but one continual scene of war, destruction, 
and slaughter, between Christian nations, and in society, and 
and even in families, ensued ; peace and harmony were un- 



REMARKS ON THE MORALITY OF NATURE. 213 

known. The Holy Ghost, that was to be the comforter, soon 
made them any thing but comfortable ! 

This good news, or Gospel, proved to be most unfortunate 
news to the inhabitants of this world. Thousands and tens 
of thousands of human beings came to a premature or violent 
death by rack and torture ; the fires of martyrdom were 
lighted up, and millions of madmen gave glory to God. This 
is but a mere outline of the horrors arising from faith in the 
glorious plan of human redemption ; and thus mortals, when 
they became believers in the Redeemer's kingdom, ceased to 
act as men, and became downright devils. If, instead of 
teaching him the doctrines of the Christian religion, the laws 
which God or nature had stamped on every human being 
(which are always present, and which, at every moment of 
his existence, call on him to attend to the lessons which they 
teach) had been pointed out to him, man would have learned 
how to live in peace and happiness, in a society of beings or- 
ganized like himself, and governed by the same laws, always 
loving happiness and dreading pain. 

To the reader, then, 1 recommend attention to the hints 
here given ; and in order to form a correct judgment how he 
should perform the duties which he owes to himself, and also 
to his fellow mortals, to study and always appeal to the laws 
of his organization. Let him bring every action to that never- 
failing index of his nature, the love of happiness and the aver- 
sion to pain. Let him sum up every day his moral accounts 
by this unerring rule, and this mode will never fail to make 
his moral path as clear as light; for as he knows that, 
according to the laws of his nature, he is compelled to love 
happiness, and to shrink from pain, so also, is every one 
that has life, governed by the laws of pleasure and pain. The 
laws of our organization, and the voice of reason united, pro- 
claim to every human being, that the whole of man's duty 
towards his fellow man consists at all times, and in all places, 
in increasing his happiness, and reducing his pain. 

To know this, so easy to be known, and strictly to practise 
it, is all the revelation which man requires. But pretended 
revelation has either obscured moral light, or held out lights 



214 REMARKS ON THE MORALITY OF NATURE. 

that are false and delusive. The false light presented to man. 
called revealed religion, instead of conducting him safely into 
the haven of happiness, has continually tossed him, without 
rudder or compass, on the roaring billows of theology, on 
which troubled ocean he has met with little else than robbers 
and pirates. 

Never, then, let us forget, that the best men or women are 
they, whose whole lives are directed to the promotion of the 
permanent happiness of every thing having life and feeling, 
and to the reduction of misery wherever it may be found ; 
and that whoever shall thus act, will be not only the best, 
but also the happiest, of the human race. 



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